An Ultimate's Wrath
by Mystery002
Summary: Sequel to The True Ultimate. After the final battle with Eclipse, Shadow and the heroes are once again at peace. This is all shaken however, when G.U.N. wants Project Shadow as their own once again.
1. So It Begins

Disclaimer- Shadow the Hedgehog and all related characters are property of SEGA Inc. Amber the Hedgehog and any new techniques that haven't been introduced in the games are my own.

Authors' Note- Here it is, the fourth installment to the Ultimates Saga!

Chapter 1

Rouge sighed a little as she hung face first from the ceiling of the Station Square Museum with a large white diamond in hand. Somehow, the jewel could not give her the rush of adrenaline that she always received while on a hunt.

Maybe it was because Shadow had left soon after Eclipse's defeat to try to "find his true place in the world". Rouge closed her eyes as an image of the dark hedgehog came to her mind. She had admitted it to herself and her closest friends long ago. She was in love with Shadow. When it happened, she didn't know.

It might have been during the adventures she had with him and Omega fighting Metal Sonic. Shadow had lost all his memories and was totally helpless and dependant on Rouge. Whenever he had a problem, he would come to her like a small child and seek comfort, and that was what triggered the small amount of affection between them that grew into a giant flame of love.

During the Emerl incident, Shadow still hadn't recovered his memory and was once again totally dependant on her. She blushed at the thought of dragging him inside her club, calling him a prince, and complimenting on his physical appearance.

During the Black Arms invasion, Rouge had only met up with Shadow twice. Even in their small moments of conversation, Rouge' heart leaped at the hedgehog's voice. Her first encounter during the invasion with him was when she was suppose to retrieve a Chaos Emerald out of the Digital Circuit for G.U.N. Surprisingly, she had met the dark hedgehog there. Although something about him was different. Perhaps it was the small hint of evil in his eyes whenever he talked to that monster, Black Doom.

But in the end, Shadow came through once again and saved the entire world from total destruction by taking on the universe's ultimate evil, Devil Doom. Through the whole battle, Rouge shouted her words of encouragement to the hedgehog along with everyone else. She was worried about him after the destruction of the Black Comet, but like Amy said, "After all, he is Shadow!"

Everyone else left as well. Sonic and Tails went back to the Mystic Ruins, Amy and Cream went to Station Square, and amber and Knuckles went back to Angel Island.

Rouge let out a small laugh at the thought of the red echidna. She remembered her first encounter with him, trying to steal the Master Emerald. She had to admit, she had developed a small liking to him in the beginning. But that all changed when she first laid eyes upon the ultimate life form.

His dark muscular body, his blood red eyes, and his tremendous power. Rouge blushed slightly at the thought but shook it out of her head as she dropped back to the ground. Swiftly, the bat maneuvered to a small window and smashed it open with a small touch of her hand. In the past few days, Rouge's strength had greatly increased.

She didn't know why she had it or where this strength came from but she also knew that she had shown no signs of wrinkles or any other signs of aging since the battle with the malicious silver and white hedgehog. She hardly required any make-up anymore.

Rouge stepped back a little and dove through the now present opening, disappearing with the white diamond in hand, into the night.

G.U.N. Base Alpha

The black haired, blue-eyed Commander of G.U.N. impatiently tapped his finger on his desk as his other hand rested above his chin. Since the final battle of the ultimate life forms was over, he had wanted to claim the victor as his own. The third and final project of Doctor Gerald Robotnik, Shadow the Hedgehog.

But for the past week, Shadow had eluded every and any kind of capture, even baffling his elites. The Commander smashed his fists on his desk out of aggravation, cracking the fine wood oak a little.

The metallic door slid open to reveal a man dressed in a black G.U.N. elite uniform. The soldier saluted as the Commander waved his hand to clear him. "Any news on Project Shadow yet?" The Commander asked impatiently.

The elite unwillingly shook his head. "No sir, we haven't yet found a single trace of him…"

The Commander lost his temper. "HOW HARD IS IT TO FIND ONE LITTLE HEDGEHOG?"

The elite flinched slightly but continued. "I may have found a source that we can use to find him sir!"

The Commander gave him a questionable look. "How?"

The elite took a small photograph from his pocket and tossed it at the Commander who caught it with the swipe of his right hand. Slowly, the Commander raised the photo to see a beautiful young bat woman.

The Commander raised an eyebrow and looked at the elite, who spoke. "She may not seem like much sir, but she was the one who retrieved the information on Project Shadow for the president during the Ark incident. Our observations have shown that she has developed a relationship with this creature."

The Commander smirked. "Oh really?"

Mystic Ruins

Sonic lazily lounged under the large palm tree by Tails' runway watching the stars while the small two tailed fox was working on another one of his inventions. The blue hedgehog sighed slightly. Ever since beating Eclipse and Shadow's disappearance, there had been nothing to do.

Robotnik was still quiet as ever and it didn't seem Metal Sonic was causing any trouble either. The sea blue hedgehog sighed slightly. What he wouldn't give for an adventure right now. Even though he knew it would probably never be the same since Knuckles now lived with Amber on Angel Island. It looks like the adventuring days of the famous Sonic Team was coming to an end.

If he only knew how wrong he was…

Angel Island

Knuckles yawned slightly as he rolled his powerful body to the left a little in the large bed he had built. Immediately, the echidna felt the warmth of someone else's fur rubbing against his own as he opened his eyes slightly to look at the resting Amber.

She was so beautiful…

Knuckles smiled slightly as he put his arm around the golden hedgehog. Since she decided to live with him, he thought it best to build a home, and with a little help from Sonic and the others, succeeded.

It was a large brick house surrounded by lush green plants and flowers with two bedrooms, tow bathrooms, a kitchen with food besides fruit, and a living room with a plasma TV courtesy of Rouge.

He had to admit though, ever since fighting Eclipse, not much has happened lately. Amber stirred slightly and nuzzled herself into his chest. Knuckles smiled again.

Not that he was complaining.

Unknown Location

A dark figure wearing a black clock swiftly weaved in between trees and bushes. The early morning sun shone on the back of the figure's cloak as it fluttered behind the mysterious creature. Though the morning sun could not completely reveal the creature, it did show a hint of white and red.

Leaves were crushed and tossed to the side under the pressure of the mysterious one's shoes that levitated him slightly above the ground. Through all the lush green it went until it made its way to a small clearing. The dark figure lifted its hood to reveal itself as none other than the ultimate life form, Shadow the Hedgehog.

He had proven his worth as the true ultimate life form against Eclipse and was now trying to find his one true place in the world. Somewhere, there was a place for him, a home. Little did he know he already found it, he just wasn't aware of it…yet.

Sweat dripped down his forehead as he sat down slightly, with his right arm resting on his right knee. Digging in his cloak, the black and red hedgehog pulled out the green Chaos Emerald.

He had picked it up after leaving Rouge's mansion after the battle with Eclipse. Shadow looked at the emerald's perfect, flawless texture and its beautiful radiant power. "Just like Rouge…" Shadow said unconsciously.

The dark hedgehog's eyes widened. Did those words just come from his mouth? Shadow shook it out of his head as his train of thought moved onto another problem. Eclipse. Even dead, his brother's words haunted him. "_You had better be in a secluded area…_"

That phrase haunted the dark one day and night. What did he mean? Another emotional outbreak like that was quite possible, but what would happen? He would transform into his Mega form. Right?

Shadow got up off the floor slightly and held the emerald high above his head. Sure, he could activate his Chaos powers without an emerald but something told him that he should conserve his strength and accounting his previous adventures, he found it best to trust his instincts.

"Chaos Control." Shadow whispered, and in a flash of light, he was gone with Eclipse's final words still haunting his mind. 'I have to find out what that means!'

Little did he know, he would soon enough.

G.U.N. Base Alpha

Red sirens flared as a loud beeping sound echoed through the halls of the large undergrounds base. The Commander eagerly ran down the hall and into the main control room, where and officer saluted him. "Sir, we detected an energy reading. From what our sensors can tell us, it was Chaos Control!"

The Commander's eyes widened. "Project Shadow?" He asked in disbelief.

"Yes Sir!" The officer responded.

The Commander laughed. "Halt all assault plans on Agent Rouge. I want you to send all available men to the location where the power reading turns up again!"

The officer saluted him. "Yes sir!"

The officer signaled one of his comrades as he spoke into a communication link. "ATTENTION ALL UNITS! ATTENTION ALL UNITS! PROJECT SHADOW HAS BEEN LOCATED! PREPARE ALL ASSAULT MECHS, ARIAL ASSAULT HELICOPTERS, ASSAULT TANKS, AND GROUND TROOPS FOR IMIDIATE DEPARTURE! THIS IS NOT A DRILL! REPEAT: THIS IS NOT A DRILL!"

Almost immediately, every healthy soldier in the facility readied themselves. Engines of assault mechs burst to life, airways for the A.A. helicopters opened, and a wide arrange of weapons were locked and loaded.

The Commander laughed again. "This time, Project Shadow, you're mine!"

The Commander moved over to the com link and spoke in it. "ALL UNITS! MOVE OUT!"

And with their leader's command, A.A. helicopters lifted out of the base, assault mechs blazed through large gateways, and trucks filled with G.U.N. ground troops drove off into the distance.


	2. Capturing Project Shadow Part 1

Chapter 2

With a blinding green light, Shadow once again reappeared on the normal, physical plain of the Earth. The dark hedgehog stuffed the Chaos Emerald back into his black cloak. He looked around a little to find himself in a large, grassy, uninhabited plain.

Shadow sighed slightly as he slowly removed his cloak from his body and folded it up into a nice tight package, with the emerald in the center. The dark hedgehog found a suitable spot in the area and put down his cloak.

Soon after, Shadow slowly eased himself down onto the soft grass and rested his head on the cloak, slowly closing his fierce red eyes for some rest.

Three Miles Away

The highest commanding officer of the current assault squad sat in the passenger seat of the alpha G.U.N. assault truck with a lower officer driving. Suddenly, a small red light beeped on the dashboard where a small green monitor sat.

The officer reached over and pressed a small grey button, stopping the light and spotting a small red dot currently stationary three miles north.

The officer smiled as he picked up a phone also stored in the dashboard. "Get me the Commander."

Back with Shadow

Sweat covered the resting black hedgehog as he stirred slightly. Sweat flooded his entire face as he completely rolled off his primitive pillow. He was having a horrible nightmare.

_Shadow ran through a dark void as an unseen winged creature with glowing silver eyes followed him. The dark hedgehog spotted a faint light just ahead. Picking up his speed, Shadow made a dash for the light._

_Before he could grasp it however, a giant clawed hand grabbed him by the back of the neck and pulled him back. The hedgehog watched on in horror as the small light dwindled and disappeared._

_Shadow swiftly punched his captor's arm with is free hand and dropped back to the floor. Shadow turned around only to be grabbed again by the front of the neck and was lifted up to be eye-to-eye with the threat._

_A faint light shone through the darkness to reveal to creature as Chaos Eclipse. The supposedly destroyed beast smirked. "You cannot escape the darkness inside your heart brother!"_

_And with those words, a huge clawed hand swiped at Shadow's horror stricken face._

"CHAOS BLAST!" Shadow shouted unconsciously as a huge black wave of Chaos energy obliterated everything in sight, including his cloak but leaving the indestructible Chaos Emerald.

Shadow dropped to his knees onto the now scorched earth where all the lush green grass once was. All the grass within a hundred feet had been completely wiped out; leaving only burned black dead earth.

The black hedgehog breathed heavily as he stood up again and picked up the nearby Chaos Emerald. 'What the hell happened?'

Shadow looked at the remaining ashes of what he knew to be his cloak. He was kind of disappointed. Rouge had given him that cloak prior to his departure and he was really fond of it.

Alas, it was time to find a new resting place. Shadow raised the Chaos Emerald above his head and was about to activate Chaos Control when the sound of multiple engines filled his ears.

The dark hedgehog turned his head as his eyes widened at the sight of at least twenty armored G.U.N. trucks and fifty G.U.N. assault mechs. The dark hedgehog's eyes widened.

"G.U.N.?" He slightly murmured. All of a sudden, the wind picked up dramatically as what was left of the grass started swaying and churning uncontrollably. Suddenly, multiple bright lights shone on the black hedgehog as he looked up through a protective, gloved hand to see ten helicopters hovering thirty feet above the other G.U.N. equipment.

"Project Shadow!"

The dark hedgehog lowered his eyes to the G.U.N. trucks to see a man wearing a navy blue G.U.N. uniform standing ten feet from him. Shadow growled. "What the hell do you want?"

The officer snickered. "Simple you vile creature, we want you!"

Shadow grunted slightly as he smirked. "Ah, still out to get the ever famous Project Shadow I see!" He said sarcastically.

The officer reached for his belt and pulled out a small handgun, pointing it directly at Shadow. Shadow laughed slightly. "Are you threatening me, human?"

In response, the officer released the safety button of the weapon. Shadow snickered as the officer spoke. "Cooperate and no harm shall be done."

Shadow closed his eyes slightly. "You humans must know by now that…I do not do things the easy way!" Shadow's eyes snapped open as he dashed at the officer at lighting fast speeds, hitting him with a sweep kick. The officer fell to the ground as the gun flew up in the air. Shadow swiftly caught it and pointed it directly at the fallen officer's face.

The officer smiled weakly as he pushed a small button on the cuff of his jacket, in which he spoke. "All units ENGAGE!"

Almost immediately, a total of three hundred foot soldiers poured from the trucks, weapons at the ready. The assault mechs armed their weapons and blazed forward along the soldiers with the helicopters monitoring the situation from a safe distance.

Shadow discarded the officer at his feet and charged for the oncoming mini army. The soldiers in front immediately opened fire as bullets blazed forward. Shadow ducked and dodged every single one.

Swiftly, the hedgehog made contact with his threat and started things off by kicking a solder right in the face, knocking him down. The other soldiers along with the mechs opened fire again as Shadow chaos controlled to safety.

The dark hedgehog reappeared twenty feet from the G.U.N. soldiers and raised his recently received weapon, taking down three G.U.N. mechs with three single bullets to the head. The mechs sizzled in a small explosion as the remainders fell to the ground.

Shadow smirked at his handy work and dashed for another small group of soldiers, all of which fired their M-16's at him. Shadow started glowing a hellish red as the oncoming bullets simply ricochet off him, hitting three other soldiers and another mech.

Right before the still firing group, the dark hedgehog released one of his most devastating attacks. "Chaos Blast!" Shadow shouted as the red energy explosion sent the group of soldiers flying away.

The glowing redness on his body died away as Shadow dashed for a group of at least ten assault mechs, swiftly decapitating them with a number of Chaos Spears. The mechs fell to the ground and died away in one huge inferno as Shadow turned to the rest of the soldiers and mechs, which had dwindled down to a pathetic total of only thirty assault mechs and one hundred soldiers.

Shadow began advancing through the inferno, discarding his small handgun and picking up a small version of what looked like to be a mini gun from one of the destroyed mechs. The soldiers began backing up in fear as Shadow steadied the weight of the weapon in both of his hands.

With one click, Shadow opened fire as the hundreds of bullets rained upon the G.U.N. troops. Smoke filled the area as the troops were cut down one by one by the powerful weapon they designed themselves.

The gun ran out of ammunition which made it clear when the gun continued rotating but no more bullets were released. Shadow let the gun drop with a heavy thud as the smoke cleared to reveal the carnage he had caused.

All of the mechs had been destroyed and were lying in various twisted piles of burning metal. All of the soldiers also had fallen at the hands of the ultimate life form as they all lay in one giant crimson pool of the liquid that had given them life in the first place.

Shadow smirked at the chaos as his bloody gaze turned to the last survivor of the massacre, the officer who had challenged him to this small insignificant battle in the first place. The dark hedgehog stepped forward, out of the inferno, and walked over to the shocked and scared officer, lifting the human who was twice his size up by the neck.

"You humans just don't learn, do you?" Shadow asked through clenched teeth.

Surprisingly enough, the officer smirked while in the ultimate life form's vice grip. "We sure don't…"

Suddenly, with one swift move, the officer pressed a small green button on the wrist watch he was wearing and spoke. "A.A. helicopter, ATTACK!"

The wind picked up dramatically as Shadow released the officer, who scrambled away. The dark hedgehog turned around to see the ten Arial Assault helicopters all launch a single rocket at the same time.

Shadow smirked as his fur burst to dull yellow and he shot off the ground, and through all the missiles, totally destroying them in a huge explosion and also through one of the helicopters, totally destroying it and sending its remains to the scorched earth below. The now Super powered hedgehog turned around slightly and launched a Chaos Spear at the second helicopter, also destroying it.

"All units, tactical maneuver 4178!" One of the pilots shouted as the remaining eight helicopters lifted higher into the air and shot at Shadow with their front and side machine guns blazing.

Meanwhile, the injured officer managed to scramble back into his truck, where he reached for the phone. He quickly picked it up and spoke with great haste in his voice. "Send in the Big Foots."


	3. Capturing Project Shadow Part 2

Author's Note- Sonic-Ruler pointed out in his review that Shadow may seem a little cruel towards the G.U.N. soldiers. But there are three very valiant reasons for his actions.

G.U.N. killed Maria

Shadow has always hated G.U.N. and even shot them in his game, I'm just letting them die(which should've happened in Shadow the Hedgehog)

…read The True Ultimate.

Chapter 3

Shadow smirked again at the pathetic attempt to take him out. The golden hedgehog simply raised his hand as a large gold field surrounded his entire body. The oncoming bullets simply bounced off the shield and rained back down upon the helicopters. Six of the helicopters managed to evade the attack but one wasn't so lucky as it burst into flame and fell to the earth below.

Shadow lowered his hand as the force field disappeared. "I was hoping for an interesting fight. You guys couldn't even capture that ignorant blue hedgehog!"

One of the pilots of the remaining seven helicopters snarled. "Don't get so cocky hedgehog."

The pilot lifted a small protective glass over a large red button in front of him and slammed his fist down upon it. The front of the helicopter opened up slightly as a large cannon emerged from within the mechanical depths. The front of the cannon started glowing purple as a large ball of stored energy was gathered at the front of it.

Shadow, being totally confident in his abilities, smirked. "Do your best."

The officer smiled sadistically. "With pleasure!"

Suddenly, the cannon fired a large violet ray at Shadow, totally engulfing the hedgehog who had not made any sign to move or dodge. The attack cleared to show Shadow still very well in health.

The dark hedgehog sneered. "Once again, your puny technology fails to live up to its reputation."

The pilot smirked again. "I wouldn't be so sure."

Shadow snickered when suddenly; he felt his power slipping away. Slowly, but surely, the golden hedgehog floated back to the ground, where his Super form blinked slightly and disappeared on impact. The hedgehog looked at his hands. "What the hell?"

The pilot who had fired the ray laughed. "Looks like you're not so cocky now hedgehog."

Shadow looked up at the helicopter in anger, with his eyes narrowed. "What did you do to me?"

The pilot sneered. "Simple, that ray was what you could call an antidote for Chaos energy. Although not permanent, without a Chaos Emerald to help you now, you have no Chaos powers." The pilot raised his head slightly and smirked. "Did you really think we were unaware of your new powers hedgehog? We always come prepared!"

Shadow was stunned that he was outwitted so easily, but suddenly, a realization struck him. He looked back at the pilot. "Well that may be," He said as he lifted up the green Chaos Emerald at his feet. "But as you can see, I do have an emerald!"

The pilot laughed. "Not for long! All units, attack!"

The helicopters suddenly blazed forward at amazing speeds as Shadow lifted the emerald in front of him. "Chaos Spear!" He shouted as a tallow energy bolt shot from the emerald annihilating one of the helicopters, and bringing their numbers down to six.

The rest of the pilots ignored the fall of their comrade and charged on as Shadow released another two Chaos Spears, taking two more helicopters down to the earth below. The other four continued to charge as they all released two missiles each, heading straight for Shadow.

The dark hedgehog chaos controlled out of the way and reappeared at the edge of the miniature morgue he had created earlier. The helicopters swerved around and sent more missiles at the hedgehog, which he dodged by dashing out of the way, his hover shoes blazing below him.

The missiles impacted, sending corpses and metal into the air. Shadow stopped and charged up another attack, taking down one of the remaining four helicopters with a Chaos Spear. The other helicopters swerved slightly to avoid flying debris but soon reopened fire upon Shadow.

The hedgehog chaos controlled again and reappeared fifty feet right of his previous position. "Chaos Spear!" Shadow shouted as another helicopter and its pilot fell to its doom.

'Only two left now!' Shadow thought.

"Chaaaaaaaaoooooooooos," Shadow began to shout. "Spear!"

But nothing happened. Shadow's eyes widened as he looked down at the emerald, which was completely grey.

"Damn!" Shadow cursed. "The constant use of just that one emerald drained its power." Now there were no more Chaos techniques. Only hand to hand with to Arial Assault helicopters.

One of the pilots laughed. "Aw, looks like your toy ran outta juice. Too bad!"

Shadow smirked. "Don't get cocky."

Suddenly, Shadow bent his knees and shot off the ground at incredible speeds, landing and clinging right on the front window of one of the helicopters. The pilot's eyes widened as Shadow reeled back his fist and punched through the reinforced window.

All the glass completely shattered as Shadow grabbed the fear stricken pilot and tossed him over his back, down to the earth below, where he landed with a heavy thud. Shadow then used his own arm as a boost and jumped into the now vacant pilot seat, taking the controls.

Shadow smirked as he skillfully maneuvered the helicopter to face the other. After all, he had learned quit some things during the Black Arms invasion. Through the other glass, Shadow could plainly see the other pilot's fear stricken face.

With one push of the controls, Shadow flew the helicopter directly at the other. Moments before impact, the hedgehog jumped out of the broken front window and landed on the ground below with a soft thud.

The other pilot out both of his arms in front of him in a last attempt to shield his body as both helicopters collided, creating a huge explosion and crashing to the ground. Shadow smirked slightly. "I win." He murmured triumphantly.

Suddenly, the ground beneath his feet exploded in a huge yellow inferno as Shadow was sent flying up in the air. Shadow landed on the ground stomach first as he let out a groan of pain. The dark hedgehog lifted up his body and turned towards the source of the attack to see the officer who he had talked to in front of three heavily armored Big Foots.

"Last chance creature!" The officer shouted. "Surrender now, and no more harm shall be done!"

Shadow snarled. "No way!" Shadow stood to his full height and pointed a finger at the officer. "I'll do to them just what I did with the rest of your troops!"

The officer shrugged. "Very well! ATTACK!"

All three Big Foots lifted off the ground and retracted their huge legs, flying over the officer and towards Shadow. The dark hedgehog got into a battle stance as the three mechanical monsters touched down upon the earth again.

Shadow smirked. "I'll turn you all into scrap metal!"

And with those confident words, Shadow charged against the massively stacked odds. The middle Big Foot immediately opened fire using its gatlin gun while the other two launched multiple rockets at the charging hedgehog from the launchers on their backs.

Shadow smirked as he swerved to the left to avoid one rocket and the incoming bullets. Three more rockets headed his way as Shadow curled into a spin dash and rolled under them. The gatlin gun on the middle Big Foot continued to fire at Shadow as he jumped over the line of bullets.

Shadow was now almost at the Big Foot's feet when a rocket he forgot about headed directly for him. Caught off guard, Shadow ducked out of the way just in time, as the fire on the back of the rocket burned the fur on his back.

The dark hedgehog grimaced in pain a little but continued his assault. Using his hover shoes as a boost, Shadow jumped right on top of the middle Big Foot. Since they were not piloted but ran on A.I., the other two mechanical giants turned to Shadow on top of their comrade and opened fire with their gatlin guns.

Shadow smirked at the robot's stupidity as he used his shoes once again to jump high into the air and avoid the attack. Down below, the middle Big Foot was caught in the fire of his comrades and exploded in a giant red inferno, with the remains coming down in a large crash.

Shadow landed on the ground again and charged for the Big Foot on his left, sliding between his feet. The giant was too slow to turn around as Shadow jumped on his back and ripped off the protective metal that withheld all the sensitive wiring.

Shadow didn't really understand the robot's networking, but he knew that if he removed some of these, something unfortunate would happen to his adversary. And the dark hedgehog did just that; with great speed, Shadow began forcefully ripping out multiple wires out of the inside of the Big Foot.

The robot began to malfunction which made it clear when it started firing random rockets and shooting his gatlin gun into nothing. The dark hedgehog jumped off the back of his opponent and landed safely on the ground while the Big Foot's internal lighting and search light shut off, with the robot crashing to the ground afterwards, a large cloud of black smoke rising from his back.

The remaining Big Foot stomped towards the hedgehog nuisance and released three rockets from his back. Shadow darted out of the way of the attack and made a sharp turn, coming directly at the robot.

Before Shadow could reach it however, the jets on its feet light up as it lifted off the ground. Shadow continued charging and right below the robot, bent his knees and shot towards the metal menace.

The Big Foot tried swerving out of the way but Shadow caught hold with his hands on the back of his rocket launchers. Using it as a boost, Shadow jumped over the rocket packs and landed on the pilot-less cockpit.

Shadow smirked as he activated his hover shoes, but not for jumping or running away. Shadow had a different thing in mind. The fire beneath his shoes began to burn away at the Big Foot's "head" as the glass cockpit began to melt, exposing a large internal computer.

Shadow spotted this and gave even more power to his shoes, as the computer began sizzling from the heat. Multiple light beeped from within the computer as the metal began to melt away. Finally, the computer exploded in a large blue flame as Shadow jumped into the air, did a black flip, and landed on the ground.

Behind him, the Big Foot fell to the earth with a loud crash as the burned metal totally exploded, leaving only black metal scraps. The scraps flew into the air and came down with multiple clangs. Shadow witnessed the event by turning his head a little.

Shadow smirked triumphantly but it soon disappeared when he felt a sharp pain in the back of his neck. The dark hedgehog slowly moved his hand to his neck, and with a strong tug, pulled out the foreign object.

Shadow brought it back down to his eye line and looked at a small silver dart with an empty capsule in the middle. Shadow dropped the object as his vision began to blur. Taking a knee, the hedgehog looked up slightly to see the officer that had survived standing ten feet from him with a small silver gun. The officer was wearing a cocky smirk.

The hedgehog hit the ground with a small thud, with his arms stretched in front of him. Shadow groaned slightly as his vision became even more blurry. He was beginning to lose consciousness. The last thing Shadow saw were black shinny boots before his face. One of the boots slightly lifted off the ground. Suddenly, Shadow felt a sharp pain on his head as it snapped back. The dark hedgehog's final will power left him.

Then everything went black.


	4. Gerald's Legacy

Chapter 4

Loud noises…crashing sounds…yelling…the sound of an engine.

Ruby red eyes slowly began to blink open as the dark hedgehog that had been captured began to awake. Harsh bright lights and the after effects of the substance injected into his system caused the hedgehog's ability to see to be downgraded considerably.

Almost immediately after reawakening, searing hot white pain shot though Shadow's body as he instinctively tried to cover his wounded areas with his hands. When he tried to move however, he found that he was unable to.

It didn't take long for the hedgehog to figure out that he was bound to something, causing the restrictions of movement on his part. The dark hedgehog tried adjusting his sight by squeezing his eyes shut but to no avail. Upon reopening, everything was still the same bright blurry sight.

"Hey, I think it's waking up!"

"Well, what are you doing? Get another tranquilizer!"

"Roger!"

Shadow tried to push against his restraints once again when he heard the small conversation, only to find the searing pain to return once again. He was helpless. The dark hedgehog felt his head moved slightly to the right by rough gloved hands. After, the hedgehog felt a familiar stinging sensation in his neck.

Due to his current state, it took a shorter time for the effects of the drug to kick in this time. Shadow began losing consciousness again as his heavy eyes unwillingly shut.

One Hour Later

One of the soldiers stationed at guard duty of the hedgehog sighed slightly as he leaned back against the side of the rumbling truck. The hedgehog before him was strapped to a long metal chair with restraints fixed with bolts at both of his arms and legs.

There was one other soldier with him, the one who had tranquilized the hedgehog soon after his reawakening.

The first soldier leaned off of the wall and spoke with impatience filling his voice. "How long until we get back to the base?"

The other soldier looked at a small watch on his right wrist. He looked back up at his fellow soldier. "About two hours."

The first soldier grunted and leaned back against the wall, closing his eyes. He reopened them however, when he heard the other soldier's voice. "Can you believe he took out the entire Alpha sector's troops?"

The first soldier looked at him. "Yeah, I've never heard of anything that strong. How does he do it?"

The second soldier reached for a small brown bag at his feet and opened it, pulling out the green Chaos Emerald. "With this!" He said holding it up.

The first officer's eyes widened as the second continued. "You see, fifty years ago, Professor Gerald Robotnik was experimenting with the theory of immortality. His studies and research brought forth four final, living, breathing creatures."

The first soldier interrupted him. "How do you know all of this?"

The second soldier responded. "I was part of the Project: Shadow research team after Dr. Robotnik released him from cryogenic stasis." The soldier eyed the emerald again. "Anyway, the first complete product was Ultimate Life Form Project 000. Codenamed: the Biolizard."

The first soldier titled his head. "What happened to it?"

"Well, apparently, the Biolizard was indeed immortal, but only when equipped with a specially designed life support system. And as even you must know, the Biolizard met its end three years ago at the hands of him." He said motioning over to Shadow.

The first soldier looked back at Shadow, then to his fellow soldier. "But then who were those other two hedgehogs with powers similar to his?"

"I'm getting to that!" He responded, clearly annoyed. "After the failure of 000, Gerald set forth on field studies to find the perfect DNA to base the ultimate life form's structure of. He came across Angel Island, where he found two ancient fossils. One of a supposed god and another of a female echidna."

"Gods and echidnas? Are you serious?" The first soldier asked skeptically.

The second soldier nodded. "Of course I am. After bringing to fossils back to Ark, the professor experimented with these and finally bringing forth experiments 001 and 002, codenamed: Project Eclipse and Project Amber."

"Were those the other two hedgehogs?" The first officer asked.

The second officer nodded. "Yes, but 001 was found very unstable and even psychotic while 002 lacked the physical strength needed to be called the ultimate. So, Gerald sealed both away. The good doctor was starting to get frustrated when he made contact with the Black Comet, the Black Arms and their leader, Black Doom."

"Are you talking about those aliens that invaded the planet not so long ago?" The first one asked ignorantly.

"Yes, now shut up! Gerald used Black Doom's DNA to create a creature of immense power and capability, Ultimate Life Form project 003, codenamed; Project Shadow! As you know, our Commander fifty years ago ordered to seize 003 for our own warfare. Unfortunately, the hedgehog totally snapped from the death of a little girl aboard the Ark and we had no choice but to cryogenically freeze him. Fifty years later, Gerald's grandson discovered Project Shadow and nearly let it destroy humanity. As it turned out, 003 was not an evil being like his father at all and after the invasion of the Black Arms, the President cleared him of all charges and ordered for his freedom."

The first officer's eyes widened. "Then what are we doing?"

"Don't worry, the president doesn't know about this. But after the invasion, the Ark released 001, followed by 002 a year later."

"But why were they released then?" The second soldier asked.

"Because," He said impatiently. "After his granddaughter's death, Gerald became hell-bent on the destruction of this planet. So he set it all up: Gerald deliberately left behind a journal for his grandson to find so he could free 003 and destroy the world."

"But that didn't happen." The first officer replied.

"Yes, but being the smart fellow he was, Gerald installed a fail-safe program into the Ark. If under some circumstances, 003 should fail, 000 would be released and carry out the task of world destruction. Then, one year after, if the Ark was still operational, it would release 001, followed by 002 exactly one year later, all to carry out the destruction of the planet."

"But 003 over here stopped them all." The first soldier replied.

The second soldier smirked. "That he did, and that's exactly why he's so valuable to us." He looked over at Shadow. "He proved his worth as the ultimate life form, and now it's time to take what is rightfully ours.

One Hour Later

The truck the two soldiers were sitting in came to an abrupt and sharp halt as both soldiers fell forward slightly. Immediately after a complete stop, the back doors of the truck were slammed open as multiple men in lab coats barged in.

The two soldiers respectfully moved aside as two of them grabbed the ends of the table that Shadow was strapped onto and proceeded to move him out. Two other scientists outside of the truck grabbed the other ends of the long metallic table as it was set on the titanium ground of the base.

Almost immediately, the scientists proceeded to roll the table away as it disappeared into a large sliding doorway, leaving the two soldiers at the truck to take their R&R.

Inside G.U.N. Base Alpha

"I need to get a reading of his chaotic energies!" A scientist with deep brown hair and blue eyes said while walking next to the moving table, a clipboard in front of his face.

Another scientist next to him with blond hair nodded. "Yes Professor Austin."

The table continued through the light hallway until finally, they reached another large metallic door. Professor Austin moved to a small panel in front of the door and slide an I.D. card in it, pressing a code number afterwards.

"Access Approved."

The door slid open as the two scientists from the truck rolled him into the room with Professor Austin, while the others went a separate way.

"Quick, put him into the containment stasis capsule!" Professor Austin ordered.

The other two scientists, one male and one female, obeyed and unhooked the straps on Shadow's body.

When the female reached for Shadow's arm, it suddenly snapped up as his gloved hand wrapped itself around her throat.

The scientist let out a squeak as the other took a small needle out of his lab coat.

Professor Austin rushed to him and pried the needle from his hands. He turned back to the female. "Don't worry," He said as he easily pried the hand off, which fell limb onto the table with a clank. "It's just a reflex, see?" He finished, picking up Shadow's assault arm and letting it drop again. "He's still asleep."

The female nodded as she and the male picked up the dark hedgehog under the armpits and by the knees, slowly carrying him to a green capsule in the middle of the technology filled room. The lid of it hissed open as both scientists managed to put him in it.

The female grabbed what looked like the end of a spear out of the side of the inside of the tube and pulled on it, revealing it to be connected to a long thick wire. She grimaced slightly as she opened Shadow's mouth and forcefully stuck the end of the spear like object down his throat.

Shadow gagged slightly out of reflex but soon calmed down as the scientist shoved it deeper into his throat until the end of the spear completely disappeared, only showing the large tube at the end sticking out of his slightly open mouth.

The female faced Professor Austin. "Sir, the nourishment tube is secure."

The Professor nodded. "Good, ultimate life form or not, 003 needs nutrients, just like any other living being. And I'll be damned if I let him die on my watch." He paused slightly. "Attach the neurotransmitters!"

The male nodded as he took multiple small wires with what looked like small suction cups on the end of them from the inside of the tube. Carefully, he placed them on his body. "Two on the forehead, four on each arm, five on the chest, and four on each leg.

The scientist looked at the Professor. "Sir, what about his hover shoes and gloves?"

The Professor thought for a moment. "Leave the shoes on, they were built to be resistant to almost any element, remove the gloves!"

The scientist nodded and did as he was told. He placed the gloves on a small table next to the stasis tube. The female hit a blue button next to the tube as the lid slid shut. The woman then pressed a red button as vents on the ceiling of the tube opened and a strange green liquid flowed in. It stopped when the tube was completely filled with it.

The female faced the Professor. "Sir, the preservation fluid is in."

The Professor nodded. "Good, this will keep him nice and strong, not to mention clean."

The female scientist walked back in front of a small panel which had multiple colored screens displayed. "Vital signs normal, brain wave patterns are"- the female stopped when she looked at the unusual motions of the brain wave detector. She motioned for the Professor to come over.

He slowly walked over to her as she pointed out the unusual readings. The Professor smiled slightly as he looked back to Shadow. "He's having a dream, and a bad one at that."

Indeed, the Professor was correct. Shadow was having the same nightmare from a few nights ago.

_Shadow ran through a dark void as an unseen winged creature with glowing silver eyes followed him. The dark hedgehog spotted a faint light just ahead. Picking up his speed, Shadow made a dash for the light._

_Before he could grasp it however, a giant clawed hand grabbed him by the back of the neck and pulled him back. The hedgehog watched on in horror as the small light dwindled and disappeared._

_Shadow swiftly punched his captor's arm with is free hand and dropped back to the floor. Shadow turned around only to be grabbed again by the front of the neck and was lifted up to be eye-to-eye with the threat._

_A faint light shone through the darkness to reveal to creature as Chaos Eclipse. The supposedly destroyed beast smirked. "You cannot escape the darkness inside your heart brother!"_

_And with those words, a huge clawed hand swiped at Shadow's horror stricken face._

Unconsciously, and without realizing it, Shadow spoke thought the nourishment tube, only loud enough for him to hear it. "The darkness…inside my heart."

Author's Note- Well, well, well, this is getting tense, isn't it? I would like to remind all of my readers that all my characters, techniques, and weapons are for use. All you have to do is ask.

Also, I would like to give a shout out to all my staff members in Tales Of An Ultimate, which is now ranked ninth highest subscriber wise, third highest staff wise, and third highest archive wise. If you like Shadow, please subscribe or if you would like to join, PM me. We need everyone's help to rank first in all three categories!

Finally, I am thinking about putting up bios for my fictional characters on my profile page, fully describing their appearances, personalities, and statis in my stories. I will only do this if you would like to see it so let me know.

Until next time.


	5. Deadly Experiments

Chapter 5

The Commander of the G.U.N. forces swiftly walked down a familiar light hallway as he came to a huge metallic door. Sliding his access card and punching in the code, the computer let out an "access approved" as the door slid open and closed shut again after the Commander entered.

His blue eyes widened at the sight of what was in the stasis tube in front of him. Shadow the Hedgehog, the ultimate life.

Professor Austin was also in the room, sitting by a large computer and running some scans.

The Commander walked over to him. "When will it be ready?" He asked impatiently.

"In a few hours," He answered without looking up from his computer. "He hasn't had time to recover from the anti-chaos blast and the tranquilizers yet."

The Commander growled slightly as he turned to leave. "Notify me immediately when he's ready."

The Professor let out a small "yes sir" as the Commander exited from the room and headed back to his office.

Professor Austin sighed slightly as he focused his attention back to the computer. 003's chaotic energies were growing back to normal and he knew it wouldn't be long until he would awaken.

Bu he knew, that once he awakened, he wouldn't be resting for quit some time.

Several Hours Later

Shadow's red eyes slowly began to blink open. The dark hedgehog's eyes were spared of the harsh bright light that he had encountered during his last awakening to find himself staring towards a cool neon green environment.

The dark hedgehog moved his head slightly as he spotted a man in a white lab coat standing in front of him. Shadow's first instinct was to move out of the way of this new person when he found out he couldn't.

The hedgehog tugged his arm slightly only to move it a little before hitting something solid. Shadow's eyes widened slightly as he moved his hands in front of him to try and touch the human observing him when his hands came into contact with cool glass.

It didn't take a genius to figure out Shadow was in a stasis tube. The dark hedgehog tried to speak to the human in front of him but when he opened his mouth, excruciating pain seared through his throat.

Shadow gagged slightly from whatever it was that was now inside of him. The dark hedgehog relaxed slightly as a very simple and easy plan came to his mind.

Bearing the pain, Shadow managed to whisper the phrase that had saved his life on several occasions in the past. "Chaos Control!"

Shadow looked around slightly to find out that absolutely nothing had happened. So, taking another shot at it, Shadow fought the pain in his throat again and whispered the exact same phrase. "Chaos Control!"

Once again, nothing happened. That's when it hit Shadow. He was hit by that anti-chaos blast and now all his chaos powers were temporarily dismantled. Shadow managed to growl as he looked back up to see another human standing by the one in the white coat. One with jet back hair, blue eyes, and a Commander uniform.

He was currently facing the man in white as they conversed. Trying as best as he could, Shadow tried to listen in only to fail due to the heavy sound proof glass installed into the tube.

The dark hedgehog's mind flooded with possible escape methods. But not being able to use Chaos attacks, Shadow decided to try it the old fashioned way. The dark hedgehog raised his right arm and curled his glove-less hand into a fist. Reeling back, the hedgehog brought it down upon the glass, making a spider web like crack into the place of impact.

The two humans outside immediately turned their attention to the capsule, seeing as it must have given out some kind of noise. Shadow reeled his fist back again and punched the exact same spot. The crack deepened as a small amount of the liquid he was in started pouring out.

The man dressed in the uniform immediately picked out a small radio and talked into it as the man in white stepped back. Shadow reeled back his fist again as the fist made impact with the glass, completely shattering it.

The small bits of reinforced glass fell to the floor as Shadow dropped down to the bottom of the tube. The hedgehog regained his composure and tried to get out when he found himself to be hindered by multiple wires.

The hedgehog took his wet hands and ripped all the wires off his body as they fell loosely to the side. Lastly, the black hedgehog moved both of his hands around the tube in his throat and yanked it out with all his strength, causing it to drop to the bottom of the tube.

Shadow bent over slightly as he spit up a small amount of clear liquid to the bottom of the tube, where a small amount of the liquid that previously occupied it was still inside.

Taking hold of the sides with his hands, Shadow managed to pull himself out. The hedgehog stumbled slightly but soon stood to his full height, cracking his neck a few times.

Shadow looked up only to stare into at least ten barrels with guns on the back of them. The G.U.N. Special Forces soldiers dressed in black uniforms all aimed their M-16's directly at Shadow as the hedgehog just stood there.

Suddenly, a figure pushed them aside as it stepped forward to reveal itself as the human with the black Commander uniform.

He smirked at Shadow and spoke. "Ah, it seems you're awake 003."

Shadow didn't respond but only stared at the Commander who spoke again. "Oh of course, how rude of myself! Allow me to introduce myself; I am the new Commander of G.U.N."

Shadow snorted slightly. "Yeah well, what do you want with me? The President cleared me of all my charges."

The Commander snickered. "Well that may be, but he need not know about our little transaction, does he?"

Shadow tensed his body up as he raised his right hand and pointed at the human in front of him. "Listen human, I don't intend on staying here and I'll be glad to rip your head off if you think you can force me!"

After Shadow's threat, every man's gun in the room was immediately pointed at Shadow's head again. The Commander laughed. "Now, now, 003. There's no need for violence."

The Commander's eyes sparkled with a hint of evil. "Besides, we wouldn't want anything to happen to that bat you're so fond of, now would we?"

Shadow's eyes widened but kept his composure. "I don't know what you're talking about."

The Commander smirked as he pulled a small photo out of his pocket and tossed it at Shadow, who caught it and stared at the person in the picture with disbelief.

"By the way you're looking at her; I think you do know what I'm talking about." The Commander said with a small smirk.

Shadow looked up at him as the Commander continued. "We currently have three snipers stationed at her residence awaiting her arrival. All I have to do is give the order and she'll be taken down."

Shadow's eyes glistened with hatred. "If you lay so much as a finger on her, I'll break your neck in two!"

The Commander snickered. "A bold statement coming from someone who's most cherished thing in the world is at stake."

Shadow continued to glare as he looked back down at Rouge's picture. The Commander smirked when he saw this and spoke. "Of course, it doesn't have to come to that…"

Shadow's head snapped to attention as the Commander continued. "All you have to do is be a good little life form and cooperate and do as you're told, understood?"

Shadow's immediate response was no in his head but gazing back down upon Rouge's picture, he came up with a different answer. "If I cooperate, will it guarantee her safety?"

The Commander nodded with a dark smile. "Of course, I'm a man of my word."

Shadow stared at the Commander and then back to the picture. His glove-less hand released the picture as it fell to the ground. The hedgehog bowed his head and stretched his arms out in front of him. "Fine, I accept."

The Commander smirked. "Excellent!"

The Commander motioned for two of the soldiers as they came forward with a set of titanium handcuffs. They cautiously proceeded to the silent ultimate life form as they snapped both arms into the cuffs, without any protest from the hedgehog.

Motioning for the soldiers to move, the Commander stepped forward and placed a hand on Shadow's shoulder, leading him down the hallway from which he first entered, with the other scientists and soldiers close behind.

They went down the light hallway once again and stopped at a large dark red door which slid open without any kind of code access. The Commander led the hedgehog into the room, which was brightly light with a large metallic table in the center.

On the right of the table was a large shelf filled with all kinds of tools. Besides that, the room was completely barren save for a large mirror that covered the entire left wall. The Commander led Shadow over to the table, where he slowly removed the cuffs.

"Sit over there 003!" The Commander ordered as he pointed towards the table. Swallowing his pride, Shadow did as he was told and was forced into a laying position by two sets of hands on his shoulders.

The two soldiers who did this took some leather straps dangling from the side of the table and slid them around Shadow's arms, legs, waist, chest, and neck. Once again, Shadow did nothing.

The Commander motioned for the soldiers to leave as they and the other eight soldiers walked out of the room, the door hissing shut behind them. The five scientists including Professor Austin all slid into white surgery coats and covered their faces with what looked like to be some kind of masks.

The Commander smirked as he also exited the room and headed for one right beside it. In front of him was a large window, mimicking a mirror on the other side, where he could observe everything.

Meanwhile, Professor Austin reached for what looked like a large needle, its size rivaling a small cat. Shadow's eyes widened slightly at the sight but did not show any emotion.

Professor Austin looked at Shadow. "Now, this might sting a little."

And with that warning, The Professor stuck the needle straight into Shadow's neck.

And sting it did…

Shadow gasped slightly from the pain but did not say a word. The Professor pulled back on the handle of the needle, extracting a blood sample from the hedgehog. The Professor handed it to one of the scientists, who carried it out of the room.

Shadow's eyes were now completely fixed on the Professor as he took a large scalpel from the shelf. With one glance at Shadow, the Professor jabbed it straight into Shadow's stomach. Shadow grimaced in pain as the Professor proceeded to cut off a small piece of flesh covered by fur and skin, placing it in a dish and putting it in the hands of another scientist.

Shadow's anger now boiled. 'What the hell are they doing to me?' He screamed in his mind, staying completely calm on the outside.

The Professor now picked up a small circular saw. He glanced at Shadow and quickly explained. "This will be to test your recovery rate."

Shadow only glared as the Professor averted his gaze and turned the power on. The saw came to life with a loud buzzing sound as the Professor reached down and made a large cut into Shadow's right arm, completely cutting down to the white bone.

This was too much for even Shadow as he let out a loud scream of pain. The Professor flinched and removed the saw, turning it back off. He faced one of the scientists. "Get the wound cleaned, and then bring him back to the stasis tube. It should be repaired by now."

The scientist nodded and did as he was told. Shadow grimaced in pain again when he felt the soft fabric rubbing against his wound. Luckily for him, the scientist was a young, gentle looking female.

"There you are!" She said with a smile as she un-strapped him. "Let's get you back to the stasis tube."

Shadow looked at the gentle female slightly. He was beginning to think not all of these wretched humans were bad.

The thought left his mind however, when he looked back forward and spotted the Commander standing there smirking. "Laura, don't take him to the stasis tube, bring him to the Physical training ward!"

Laura's eyes widened but obeyed the command, leading Shadow off towards the training room.

The dark hedgehog and female entered the room, which was at least the size of a football field, only completely white.

Laura smiled at Shadow. "Don't worry, you'll make it through."

Shadow was about to respond when he heard another voice, one that made his blood boil.

"Well, I certainly hope so…"

Shadow turned around and looked at the Commander, standing by a large computer protected by a fiber glass shield.

"…Because this will certainly push you to your limits!"

Author's Note- Since the majority of the reviewers requested it, I will be putting up the bios for my characters on my profile. It should be up by the time this chapter is posted so look for it!

Also, I would like to say that Tales Of An Ultimate is really growing. We are still 9th with subscribers, 3rd with archieve size and...1st staff count wise! Thank you to all, my staff members. Also, I would like to formaly welcome Shadow Minamoto and Tru Mel Meiko Mei Ling, the newest additions to the C2.

If you haven't subsribed yet, please do so to make us 1st in all categories!


	6. Breaking the Ultimate

Chapter 6

The Commander kept smirking as Shadow continued to glare. Minutes passed like hours as both refused to let each other know of any sort of weakness.

Laura was the one to finally break the silence with a fake cough. This caught both Shadow's and the Commander's attention.

The Commander cleared his throat slightly as he spoke. "Well 003, shall we get started?"

"Fine with me, there's nothing that you've humans got that can stop up to me." Shadow ruffed.

The Commander smiled. "Well, we'll just have to see about that, won't we?"

Shadow smirked confidently as Laura released him. The dark hedgehog stood to his full height as Laura went into the protective fiber glass ball, shutting the door behind her and taking her place on the computer.

Shadow looked around slightly in the empty room. He arched a brow as the Commander spoke again. "Now Shadow, prepare yourself!"

Shadow nodded as the Commander pressed a red button on the computer. The room rumbled as Shadow steadied himself slightly.

Suddenly, multiple doors that had brutally been unseen hissed open as huge and slime white robots stomped out. The chest was very powerful looking with a chrome plate protecting it. Its arms and legs had some armor on them but some of the black interior was shown.

The head of the robots seemed very slick and were angled in a kind of polygon shape. (A/N: Just imagine the robots from the Sonic Next generation Trailer). Bright blue eyes gazed at the dark hedgehog through the head armor.

The clawed hands of the robots were curled into fists and they hovered slightly above the ground, with a light blue light blazing from their backs. There were only three of them.

Shadow's eyes widened slightly at the new robots. The Commander smirked when he saw Shadow's reaction. "These are the G.U.N.'s latest assault mechs, the S.D. assault mechs, codenamed the Search-and-Destroy Assault Mechs. They are out latest and by far greatest designs, able to run without charging up for up to twenty-eight days. Its armor is made to be almost unbreakable and they have proved their worth, being successful on all missions they have been sent on!"

Shadow smirked as he looked at the Commander. "You're pretty confident in your tin can rejects."

The Commander smirked. "Believe me 003, these tin cans are more than worthy to take you on."

Shadow looked back at the robots. "Fine, let's see about that!"

In the blink of an eye, Shadow kicked off the ground and shot at one of the S.D. assault mechs. The dark hedgehog reeled back his fist and struck at the robot. Faster than the dark hedgehog could catch though, the S.D. mech raised its mechanical hand and caught the fist.

Shadow's eyes widened as the robot used its free hand and delivered a devastating punch to Shadow's gut. Shadow's eyes widened in pain as he shot back, hitting the bright white wall and falling to the ground.

Blood seeped from Shadow's mouth as he weakly pushed his already damaged body off the floor. A sharp pain shot through his body as he looked down upon the wound on his left arm, which was completely bloody, with the life giving liquid running down his arm and to the floor, turning his black fur to a dark brown on his arm.

The robots did not give him a spare breath however, two of the S.D. mechs charged for Shadow. The dark hedgehog dodged the first blow just in time by jumping over the attacker's fist. He was too slow to dodge the second however, and was hit by a cold metal fist, sending the hedgehog crashing back into the wall.

Before sliding down, the first mech grabbed Shadow by the throat and threw him back to the third S.D. mech, which was staying behind. The mech caught the hedgehog and choke slammed him onto the cold steel floor, making a giant dent into it.

Shadow spat up blood again, completely drenching the white fur on his chest, turning it orange. The S.D. mech towering over him picked the dark hedgehog up by the throat again and slammed him into the exact same spot. Shadow's eyes widened out of pain as more blood oozed from his mouth.

Inside Observation Tube

The Commander smirked triumphantly as he watched the brutal beating that was taking place before him.

"It's amazing really," He said catching Laura's attention. "What this creature will do to protect that girl."

Laura sighed slightly as she looked at Shadow, being once again slammed to the ground. "Yes, it's very obvious that he loves this girl."

The Commander closed his eyes and smirked. "Of course, that's why he was foolish enough to believe my little lie."

Laura's eyes widened. "Lie?"

The Commander opened his eyes and looked at her. "Well of course, ever since the Black Arms invasion, Agent Rouge has resigned from G.U.N. and we have absolutely no idea where she currently resides…but of course 003 doesn't know that."

Little did he know that statement would be his undoing.

Outside Observation Tube

Shadow grimaced in pain again as the monstrous robot delivered another slam by the throat. Through the pain however, the hedgehog heard the little conversation between his observers through the supposed sound proof glass.

Shadow's rage heightened uncontrollably. Just as the robot had the hedgehog hoisted in the air for another choke slam, the dark hedgehog released a massive black Chaos Spear from his free hand.

The S.D. mech blew up in a white inferno, with the pieces clattering to the ground.

Inside Observation Tube

The Commander's eyes widened when he saw Shadow's attack. He looked at the female at the computer. "Laura, what's happening?"

Laura faced him wide-eyed. "His chaotic readings are off the charts! Sir, we have to call for backup!"

The Commander shook his head. "No, the S.D. mechs will handle 003."

"But sir, he just took that one out with one attack. Now that his energy is back, he's considerably more dangerous and powerful!" Laura responded.

The Commander stubbornly shook his head. "No, post guards at the entrance but leave 003 to fight the two S.D. mechs!"

Laura reluctantly nodded and did as she was told. Sirens flared as twenty armed Special Forces G.U.N. soldiers stationed themselves right outside of the door.

Outside Observation Tube

Shadow couldn't believe it. He had been fooled so easily by the mere possibility that Rouge could be in danger. The fact that this human outwitted him, the ultimate life form, the title he had worked so hard to earn, has been reduced to a simple minded imbecile.

That drove his rage past its limits as a dark aura surrounded Shadow's body. The other two S.D. mechs wasted no time and charged for Shadow. Reeling back their metallic fists, both mechs attempted to strike Shadow down, only to come into contact with air.

The mechs looked around slightly before spotting the hedgehog behind them. The mech on the right retracted his right hand as a large automatic silver gun took its place. The other mech retracted its left hand to be replaced with a large black cannon.

Both mechs aimed their weapons at the motionless Shadow and fired. With dozens of bullets and large blue cannon fire coming at him, Shadow lifted his head to reveal his ruby red, black dotted eyes were now completely ebony.

Raising his hand, a dark shield formed before Shadow. The bullets and cannon fire simply seemed to fuse with the shield and disappear. The mechs stopped firing and retracted their weapons, replacing them with their hands.

Shadow lowered his hand as well as the dark shield disappeared. Both mechs charged for Shadow. Their light blue jet packs blazing behind them. The first tried a straight punch, one which Shadow easily dodged.

With a simple snap of his arm, Shadow chopped the mechs head clear off, with the now decapitated robot falling to the ground, the head rolling up beside it. Shadow raised his left foot and stomped on the head, completely crushing it. The dark hedgehog faced the last remaining mech, his ebony eyes tainted with lust for the kill.

Inside Observation tube

"Sir," Laura called. "His chaos energies are off the charts. He's too powerful for the mechs!"

"But how?" The Commander asked. "Those mechs' armor is eighty percent diamonds!"

"Sir," Laura called again. "We have to stop this!"

The Commander nodded. "Yes, activate the holographic projector!"

Laura nodded and punched in a few buttons on the computer.

Outside Observation Tube

Shadow began charging up a dark energy blast when a soft voice stopped him.

"Shadow…"

The dark hedgehog turned around. When he laid eyes upon the person that had spoken, the dark energy in his hand withered away as he stared at the person wide-eyed.

"Maria?" Shadow asked, totally shocked to see his long lost adopted mother here, with him.

The young girl nodded happily, shaking her golden hair slightly. "Yes Shadow' it's me!"

The dark hedgehog continued to stare. "But how? I…saw you die."

Maria shook her head again and stepped closer to the hedgehog. "Shadow, we need not worry about that, all that matters is that we are together again."

Shadow's ebony eyes disappeared and were replaced by his normal ruby and black ones. He started walking towards the girl that he had wanted to see again for over fifty years.

Before he could take another step however, the dark hedgehog felt a sharp pain in the back of his head. Shadow's eyes rolled back slightly as they completely shut. With a thump, the night hedgehog fell to the ground, motionless.

Above him stood the last S.D. mech, its arm still raised after the powerful hit that it just delivered.

The last thing the dark hedgehog saw was Maria, flickering away in what looked like static, and then completely disappearing.

Shadow lost consciousness.

Meanwhile

The Commander smirked at the fallen hedgehog. "Just look at him, dropping his guard for the illusion of a girl that's been dead for over fifty years. He doesn't deserve the power he holds within himself."

The commander motioned with his hand as two guards picked up the hedgehog and dragged him out of the room by the armpits, his hover shoes scratching the floor and wearing away the paint on the shoes a little.

The Commander and Laura followed the guards back to the lab, where Laura put in the access code, opening the door. The guards dragged the ultimate life form inside and were met by a furious Professor Austin.

"Where the hell have you been with him, he was supposed to be resting?" He asked furiously.

The Commander stepped forth. "That would be my fault Steve; I had him do a little training before hid break."

The Professor's eyes widened. "Training? In his condition? Are you mad?"

The Commander snickered. "Now, now, Steve, he is the ultimate life form after all."

"That may be _sir_," The Professor said raising his temper even more. "But he's in my care and I will not let anything happen to mankind's greatest creation just for a little training."

The Commander snorted. "You're being too sensitive Steve; it's just a weapon after all."

"A weapon?" The Professor asked in disbelief. "You think that this creature is just a weapon? He is more than that! He is a living, breathing life form and you will not handle him like some sort of weapon!"

The Commander stepped closer to the Professor. "Are you challenging my authority, Steve?"

The Professor smirked. "Sorry David, but…" He cut himself off as he pulled a golden badge from his lab coat. "I still have say over what happens to 003 and what doesn't, seeing as I outrank you. You're out of your jurisdiction, so follow my orders or I'll Court Marshall you!"

The Commander did not say a word, but only stepped back and left the room, with the guards following. This only left the unconscious shadow, Laura and Professor Austin.

"I was hoping it wouldn't have to come to that." He said while tucking away the badge."

Laura nodded. "Yes, but you had to do something, David was torturing him."

"I know," he said sadly. "But we can't worry about that now! Put him in the containment tube and we'll pick up with the research once he recovered."

Laura nodded and picked up the unconscious hedgehog, placing him in the stasis tube. Reaching to the sides, the female attached all the neurotransmitters back to their appropriate spots as Shadow leaned against the wall, totally oblivious to what was going on.

Finally, Laura pulled the nourishment tube from the side of the tube and stuck it in the dark hedgehog's slightly open mouth, making him gag a little.

Stepping back, the tube hissed shut as Laura walked over to the small computer at the side of the tube and by pressing a few buttons, the strange green liquid began to fill the tube again, making the unconscious hedgehog inside float a little, with his quills slowly wavering.

She sighed as she sat down next to her colleague. "I really hope he survives this."

"Yes," Professor Austin agreed. "I do too."

Commander's Office

The Commander's blue eyes were light with rage as he paced back and forth in the room. Finally stopping, the Commander sighed angrily and sat back down in his leather chair, making it rock back a little from the extra weight.

Putting a hand to his chin, the Commander spoke to himself, or maybe to an unseen force, making a vow. "I swear, I will have control of 003, I will control the greatest power on Earth, and I WILL break the Ultimate Life Form!"

But maybe, some powers should remain hidden, for the sake of the one searching…

Author's Note- recently, I have been searching for an author that vanished without a trace in April. There are no more updates, reviews, or forum posts from this author and I am really curious what happened to him. He has not responded to any of my PM's either.

So, if you have any information on the author J.A. Phillips, I would really appriciate it if you filled me in.


	7. On a Last Limb

Chapter 7

Professor Austin typed away furiously at the keyboard, running multiple scans and tests on the still unconscious hedgehog. The occasional bubble floated silently from Shadow's mouth, bursting when it reached the top of the tube.

Even though he was physically unconscious, his mind was still full of anger. In the dark realm of his mind, Shadow stood alone, talking to seemingly no one but himself.

'How dare they do that to me!' He asked himself in fury. 'They fooled with Maria, they fooled with me! They single handily destroyed my entire past. This will be the last time they do this!'

Back inside the tube, Shadow cringed slightly as a number of bubbles floated up from the small mask he had on his mouth.

Laura noticed the behavior and tapped the Professor on the shoulder, pointing to Shadow. "Sir, look, something's happening to him."

The Professor stood up and stepped towards the tube.

'How dare they! How dare they!' Shadow screamed in his mind. 'I will get them for this! I swear I will!'

The Professor moved to where his face was inches away from the tube and looked at Shadow's slumbering form. Suddenly, the dark hedgehog's eyes shot wide open, revealing them to once again be completely ebony.

A bright black light shone from the tube as it suddenly exploded in a giant red flame. The Professor was knocked to the floor, with Laura running up beside him and helping him up. "Sir, what happened?"

"He's awake." The Professor answered, fear tainting his voice.

Through the giant grey cloud, multiple clanking sounds were heard as a dark silhouette became visible in the cloud. Laura and the Professor both backed up slightly as the figure revealed itself as Shadow. A dark black flame surrounded the hedgehog's body and his ebony eyes flashed with evil intentions. The hedgehog was once again on the verge on entering his darkest form ever.

Quivering in fear, the Professor picked up a radio. "Attention, 003 has escaped!"

Immediately, red sirens flared through the base as the demented Shadow looked up curiously with his eyes narrowed. The door slid open as multiple armed soldiers poured through, all aiming their guns at Shadow.

The dark hedgehog lowered his gaze towards the opposing forces and laughed a demented laugh that wasn't his own. "You fools think you can stop me? You have made my life a living hell long enough!"

The dark hedgehog raised his glove-less hand as dark chaos energies began to gather within his palm. With another maniacal laugh, Shadow pointed the hand at the soldiers. The light shone onto his face, making him appear even more sinister then he already was. The hedgehog was about to release when for some odd reason, he stopped. Shadow's ebony eyes widened slightly as he had some kind of vision, an unexplainable vision that took place for some unknown reason. His physical form was in the lab, but his mental form was elsewhere…

_Shadow smiled slightly as the young bat woman beside him kissed him on the cheek._

"_Mom, dad!"_

_Shadow turned around and was caught in a tight hug by a little black hedgehog._

_Suddenly, the image disappeared and instead it showed what was going on at this very moment. It showed Shadow ruthlessly massacring the soldiers that stood in his way, ignoring their pleas for mercy._

_The dark hedgehog turned around when he heard sniffing sounds. Before him, stood the young black hedgehog._

"_Why daddy? Why?"_

Lowering his hand, the dark energy blast disappeared. The dark aura around him also disappeared along with the totally black eyes. The soldiers were momentarily dumbfounded at the hedgehog's hesitation but the cocking of their guns proved that they had come back with reality.

Shadow didn't know exactly why he stopped, but he knew that if he attacked the soldiers out of blind fury now, there would be dire consequences. Trusting his instincts, Shadow pointed his hand towards the ground and released a Chaos Spear, sending a cloud of smoke into the air.

About to dash off, something caught Shadow's eyes, something white. Shadow smirked slightly as he picked up his old gloves, which were lying on a small metallic table. Sliding them onto his fingers, Shadow tightened them by tugging on them a little.

Then, with great agility, Shadow dashed through the smoke filled with the soldiers and ran out of the door, weaving in an out between the confused humans.

The dark hedgehog skidded to a stop after the door hissed shut and looked around. There were only two paths. One surely led into the depths of this base and the other probably led outside, to freedom.

Shadow decided to take the path leading away to his right and dashed off, with his slightly damp hover shoes blazing beneath him. Red sirens flared all around the dark hedgehog, making him appear a soft brown color. The ebony and crimson hedgehog stopped at another fork in the metallic road and looked around.

Deciding on the left way, the dark hedgehog dashed off again, slightly holding his damaged arm, which had began to bleed again from the lack of rest.

Suddenly, Shadow's sensitive ears picked up the sound of engines.

Shadow looked over his shoulder slightly to see two S.D. mechs chasing him with their light blue jets lighting up the metallic path behind them. Shadow muttered a few curse words and sped up his pace. Shadow smirked. Surely those tin cans had lost track of him.

Just to be sure, Shadow looked over his shoulder to see the two mechs still behind him, only now their hands had been replaced by machine guns. Raising the guns, both mechs opened fire upon the hedgehog.

Shadow ducked slightly out of instinct while still running. The bullets blazed past him, creating tiny holes into the wall and ceiling. Suddenly, Shadow skidded to a halt and ducked as the two mechs blazed past him.

"Alright," He said quietly. "This one has to count. Chaos Spear!"

The yellow bolt shot forth from Shadow's hand and hit one mech right in the head, causing it to explode, with the other mech being caught in the mini inferno, also destroying it.

Shadow smirked slightly even though that one attack took the tiny amount of Chaos energy he had regained away, leaving him once again completely drained of Chaos powers.

Shadow shook the thought out of his head as he started running again, slightly jumping over the remains of the two mechs. Now that the hallway was going straight, Shadow sped up his pace even more, with his hover shoes spitting out fire beneath him, turning the cold gray floor a darker color.

Shadow kept going when he spotted a bright light at the end of the metallic hallway. Shadow's heart jumped at the thought of escape as he passed through the light, finding himself in the small hanger from which he was transported to the base.

Shadow sighed in relief and spotted that the main door of the hanger, which was at least sixty feet wide and seventy feet tall, stood wide open, letting in a huge quantity of bright light. Wasting no time, Shadow dashed for the door and was about to pass through it when suddenly, a huge metal seal fell over the door, completely destroying the light in the room along with Shadow's hopes for escape.

The dark hedgehog stepped back out of disbelief but stopped when he heard an all too familiar laughter.

"Now, 003, where did you think you were going?"

Shadow turned around slowly to see the hated Commander standing in front of twenty S.D. mechs, all with large black cannons raised and pointing directly at Shadow. A light blue light was emitting from all of them, signaling their readiness to fire.

"I'm getting out of this damn place, you wretched human!" Shadow spat.

The Commander mockingly shook his head. "I'm afraid I can't let you do that 003."

He raised his hand and pointed at the side of his head. "Not until we know what makes you tick."

Shadow smirked. "Well then, if you plan on keeping me in this hell hole any longer, you'll have to catch me."

The Commander smiled wickedly. "Gladly, S.D. mechs, ATTACK!"

With their leaders command, the twenty mechs charged forward, their cannons spitting out huge blue energy blasts. Shadow darted to the side to avoid the onslaught and raised both his hands at them. "Let's see how you like this! Chaos Spe-damn, I forgot, I have no Chaos powers!"

Shadow cursed himself slightly but got back to reality when he barely dodged another cannon shot, out of pure instinct. The dark hedgehog growled and charged for one of the mechs, kicking it straight in the chest. Shadow back flipped and stared at the now motionless mech. His eyes widened when the mech moved, completely ignoring the vicious kick Shadow had just delivered.

Shadow growled again and charged for one of the mechs in the middle, raising his fist and concentrating all the force and momentum in his body towards the attack. With a giant bang, the hedgehog's fist impacted with the mech, totally destroying the chest plate and back plate, along with all the sensitive wiring and sending Shadow through the giant hole he just created.

The dark hedgehog tumbled slightly but regained his footing, staring at the mech. With a large white explosion, the mech burst to millions of tiny pieces, which fell to the cold steel ground. Shadow smirked slightly when he was hit in the face with another familiar cold fist. The dark hedgehog skidded on the ground, leaving a long black mark before being picked up by another mech.

Gasping for air, Shadow wrapped his hands around the merciless fist that he was caught in to no avail. The mech's free arm transformed into the familiar black cannon as it pointed it at Shadow. Shadow's blood red eyes widened as his face became shrouded in a blue light. The dark hedgehog barely had time to gasp before the mech fired the cannon shot, releasing Shadow from his vice grip and sending the hedgehog into the wall.

The dark hedgehog didn't even have time to let gravity take its effect and slide down from the completely vertical wall before more cannon shots were fired at him. Lacking the strength, Shadow was hit with every single shot.

Smoke began to rise as the dark hedgehog disappeared under the bright blue lights and grey smoke, with only his screams of pain and agony confirming that he was still alive. The metallic wall behind him began to crumble as Shadow was pushed further and further into it, being totally helpless to retaliate against the assault.

The Commander smirked and raised his hand into the air. Immediately, all of the mechs stopped firing and retracted their cannons back into their hands. The smoke cleared to reveal the bloody ultimate life form, still stuck in the now huge crater the cannon shots had created.

His dark fur had been singed in multiple places, revealing tan skin. His left arm was worse than it was before, with almost all of the fur completely missing, showing only skin, bone, and blood. The dark hedgehog's right arm was also heavily damaged, exposing the soft tissue in some places, were the skin had been totally burned off.

The ebony hedgehog's chest and legs were dotted with multiple oozy burn marks as well. Shadow's head was completely covered in blood, almost hiding the ebony fur that resided there. His muzzle was also completely covered in blood as the red liquid slowly trickled down his chin.

Being the sick human he was, the Commander smirked evilly. "Good, now get him cleaned up, and then bring him to the psychiatric room; I have one machine in there that I'm sure will bring him under our control!"

The S.D. mechs did as they were told as two of them floated up to Shadow pried the dark hedgehog from the crater, dragging him back into the base, with the others close behind. The Commander smiled darkly and followed.

Little did he know that would be his undoing…


	8. Terrible News

Chapter 8

A shadowy figure moved stealthily under the cover of darkness, inside of one of the government's top military facilities. The figure ducked behind a metallic wall as a search light shone around her area. A loud buzzing sound signaled the passing of a small sentry bot as it moved along to scan other areas for intruders.

The figure chuckled slightly at the robot's incompetence and moved out of the cover of the wall, moving swiftly to the other end of the room. Out of the shadow, the figure stepped to reveal itself as Rouge the Bat.

She had recently heard of a large priceless ruby captured by the government and sent to this facility for safe keeping and being the thief she was…she had come to take it as her own.

Smirking slightly, the bat moved over to an access panel to gain entrance to the sealed room before her. Moving quickly in case another bot came along, she used a miniature screw driver that she had pulled from her belt and began removing the screws from the protective plating of the panel.

Removing all four screws and tucking the screw driver back into her belt, Rouge proceeded to take off the plating and work on the complicated wring inside of the panel. Taking hold of a red wire, the bat pulled out a small knife and cut it in two. Next, she cut a light green wire and connected the ends of the red and green wire to each other.

The panel sparked for a moment before a monotone voice spoke. "Access approved."

Rouge smirked as she tucked the knife back into her belt and entered through the now wide open door. Light flickered on in the room to reveal absolutely no trace of any kind of jewel, only a large computer. Rouge's heart sank a little but some hope was rekindled when she spotted a large computer in the middle of the room.

Thinking she could use it to find the ruby's location, Rouge proceeded to the computer and spotted a small search bar on the screen. It required a password. Now, being the excellent world class thief she was, he could easily crack the code. Before she started however, an idea flashed in her mind.

Moving her gloved fingers almost gracefully, she typed in five letters, all capitalized" M-A-R-I-A

"Access Approved!" A female voice spoke.

She hastily typed in "Top Secret" to see if she could locate the jewel that way.

"Searching….Searching….Results found."

Rouge smiled when multiple screens popped up on the screen. There was one that immediately caught her attention labeled: Samoan Ruby. She moved the cursor over to the small box and was about to click it when something else caught her eye, labeled Project Shadow.

Her curiosity immediately heightened as she moved the cursor away from the previous box and to the one labeled Project Shadow. Clicking it, another white screen filled the monitor. She skimmed through it, reading all about Shadow's creations and the events in his life all the way to the Black Arms invasion when it stopped and one bold phrase was at the end of the report, on that made Rouge's heart almost stop.

**Status: Captured**

**Location: G.U.N. Base Alpha, Sandstone Canyon**

It couldn't be…

She read the information over and over again to make sure she wasn't mistaken but every time, it was the same. How could he be captured? He is the one who beat Devil Doom and Chaos Eclipse. How?

That one question kept running through her mind as a single tear of realization ran down her delicate cheek but she snapped out of it, coming to a decision. "I have to tell the others." She muttered.

And with those words said, the bat dashed out of the room, past the sentry bots, and back outside, heading towards the Mystic Ruins.

Mystic Ruins

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" A familiar voice screamed through the usual silent air above the Mystic Ruins.

Sensing danger, a young two tailed fox ran out of his workshop covered in oil. "Sonic?"

Immediately, a blue blur ran to the fox as the famous Sonic the Hedgehog hid behind his little adopted brother. Tails cocked a brow as he looked back at Sonic. "What's wrong Sonic?"

The cobalt hedgehog only pointed a trembling finger forward. Tails followed the fingers direction and began to figure out what Sonic was so scared of. His suspicions were confirmed when a familiar voice echoed through the air.

"Soooooooooooniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiic!"

Running up to the duo was none other than Amy Rose carrying a small basket, once again on a hunt for the blue hedgehog's affection. Sonic yelped slightly as he ducked further down behind Tails.

Amy sighed as she stopped before Tails. "Sonic, stop being a baby! You know you love me!"

Sonic looked up over Tails' shoulder. "I do not!" He said defiantly.

Amy glared at him. "Excuse me?"

Sonic squealed and hid behind Tails again.

Amy sighed. "Oh well," She said. "I guess you don't want these chili dogs I have…." She said opening the basket and revealing ten chili dogs.

Sonic's eyes widened as his mouth watered. Amy smirked. "You can have them if you want; all ya gotta do is give me a small kiss." She said pointing to her lips.

Sonic's eyes widened even more. Oh, what a dilemma. Chili dogs for the price of kissing Amy. Was he gonna go it? Hell No!

Sonic came up with a different plan as he moved away from Tails and stood before Amy. "Alright," He said sadly. "You win Amy."

Amy squealed with delight as she leaned forward. Sonic also leaned forward. Closing her eyes slightly, the pink hedgehog tilted her head to the side.

Tails covered his eyes. "Uh, I can't watch."

Their lips were about to meet when Sonic snapped back and grabbed the basket from Amy, taking off.

Amy opened her eyes to see Sonic and her basket full of chili dogs no longer with her. She looked to the side to see Sonic running off.

Amy's eyes caught fire as she pulled out her giant hammer. "Get back here!" She demanded taking off after the blue hero.

"No way!" Sonic shouted back, grabbing a chili dog and taking a huge chomp out of it.

Amy kept running after him, while Sonic kept eating the chili dogs in mid-run. The blue hedgehog laughed in amusement as he looked back at Amy, her jade eyes now mimicking Shadow's.

The hero looked back as his laughter disappeared. Before him was Rouge. Putting his feet in front of him, Sonic managed to break just in time before hitting the completely motionless Rouge.

Sonic screamed as he fell over, with the rest of the chili dogs flying to the dirty ground. Sonic sniffed. "What a waste, what a waste."

Amy stopped in front of Sonic and Rouge, looking at the bat. "Rouge, are you okay?" She asked worried.

Rouge lifted her face to reveal it covered in soft crystal like tears. "They have him…G.U.N. has Shadow."

Amy and Sonic's eyes widened. "WHAT?" They screamed in unison.

"How did this happen?" Sonic asked, getting up.

Rouge shook her head. "I don't know."

Amy walked up to her and placed a arm around her shoulder, leading her to the workshop. "Come in inside and you can tell us there."

Rouge nodded, sniffing back more tears and followed Amy, with Sonic close behind.

Workshop

"Alright," Amy began as she sat down on a small black couch with Sonic, Tails, and Rouge. "Just tell me how you know this for certain."

"Well," Rouge began. "When I was in one of the minor G.U.N. holding bases a few hours ago, I came across a computer. Hacking into it, I spotted a file about Project Shadow and read it. At the end of the report it said that Shadow was captured and is being held at G.U.N. base Alpha ad Sandstone Canyon."

"But," Sonic interrupted. "What were you doing there in the first place?"

Amy closed her eyes and sighed angrily, knocking Sonic in the head with a closed fist. "Shut up Sonic!"

Sonic rubbed his head. "Alright, I was only asking, jeez!"

Rouge continued. "So, as soon as I found out, I came here to tell you guys."

Amy nodded, thinking about the problem. She came to a conclusion. "Well, there's only one thing we can do, a rescue mission!"

Sonic jumped up. "Aw sweet, bring it on!" He said confidently.

Rouge smiled, wiping her tears away. "Thanks guys."

Sonic smiled cockily. "Don't worry about it toots, even though Shadow wouldn't admit it, I'm his friend and I never leave a friend behind."

Amy glared angrily at him. "_Toots_?"

Sonic's eyes widened. "Uh Oh…"

The next thing everyone knew, Amy was once again chasing Sonic around, only this time it wasn't for his affection.

"I'm sorry Amy." He said dodging another swing of the hammer. "You're the only one for me!"

Amy stopped and smiled warmly. "Awww thanks Sonic."

Sonic put his hands over his mouth, realizing what he just said. "I…um…"

Rouge walked up to him and smirked, putting a arm around his shoulder. "Would you look at that, Sonic has a little crush."

Sonic glared at her. "I do not!"

Rouge smirked again. "Then why are you blushing?"

Sonic's eyes widened as he covered his rose face. "I am NOT blushing, you're squeezing the life outta me!"

Rouge smiled and let him go. "Fine Sonic, you just keep being in denial."

Sonic growled and muttered some words under his breath.

"What was that?" Rouge asked.

"Nothing," Sonic mumbled and raised his voice again. "Now, can we get going?"

Rouge nodded. "Sure, but let's head to Angel Island first, I'm sure Amber and Knuckles wanna help as well."

Sonic nodded and looked at Tails. "You stay here little buddy, I wouldn't want you getting hurt."

Tails nodded as Sonic pulled the two females in closer to him. "Chaos Control!" Sonic shouted.

And in a green flash of light, they were gone.

G.U.N. Base Alpha

Shadow grimaced from pain as the heartless S.D. mechs strapped him into a seat surrounded by what looked like a giant see-through ball. The mechs tightened the straps on the hedgehog's arms and legs and left the room, with only a couple scientists and the hated Commander still by the hedgehog.

Shadow managed to talk through the pain. "What are you doing to me?"

The Commander smirked. "Something that will surely bend you to our will."

Shadow growled. "You'll never control me!"

The Commander smiled. "Oh, but I think I will!"

The small bubble Shadow was in sealed shut with a hissing sound. A buzzing sound started ringing in Shadow's ears as the night hedgehog looked up to see some kind of metallic head band connected to a bunch of wires lowering itself.

The dark hedgehog tried moving out of the way, but to no avail. The head band continued coming down until it slid onto Shadow's head.

The Commander outside of the bubble smiled evilly as he pointed to one of the scientists. "Activate the machine!"

The scientist nodded and punched in a few buttons. The bubble Shadow was in started filling up with a bright florescent light as the rest of the room darkened. Shadow shut his eyes as if trying to resist something when his eyes shot wide open.

He now knew what this machine was doing; it was making him relive his worst memories.


	9. The Truth About 50 Years Ago

Chapter 9

Angel Island

Sonic, Rouge, and Amy reappeared on Angel Island in another green flash of light.

The pink hedgehog swayed slightly. "Whoa, is it always like this when you come out of Chaos Control?"

Sonic shook his head. "Nah, it's just like that for people who haven't used it that much."

Rouge looked around, scanning every part of the massive island. She finally spotted what looked like an ancient stone altar with a giant green jewel on it. "Look guys!" She said while pointing at it. "They must be over there!"

Amy and Sonic followed Rouge's gaze and also spotted the altar. "Yeah," Sonic said. "I bet knuckle-head is over there, guarding that stone."

The three started walking towards the altar until they came to the base of it. Rouge stepped onto the first stone step when a red blur tackled her to the ground.

"Get away from my emerald!" A familiar voice barked.

Realizing the red echidna was lying on top of her, Rouge quickly removed him with a slap to the face, sending the red one to the ground. She stood up dusting off her outfit. "Keep your hands off me, knuckle-head!"

Knuckles rubbed his cheek, which was now the color of a cherry, and stood up. "Ups, sorry about that batgirl."

Rouge growled. "Batgirl? No wonder I lost interest in you, you don't know how to treat a lady!"

"Oh, I beg to differ."

Rouge, Sonic, Amy, and Knuckles looked to the source of the voice to see Amber walking up to them. Her usual outfit was discarded and she was wearing a long white dress.

Sonic tilted his head. "Why are you all dressed up?"

Amber sighed as she walked up to Knuckles and planted a kiss on his rosy cheek. "Because, we just got married."

Amy and Rouge's eyes widened. "YOU WHAT?"

Knuckles nodded. "Yeah, we just got through with the marriage when I sensed someone else on the island."

"But why didn't you invite us?" Amy asked.

"Because," Knuckles answered. "We got married using the ancient ways my ancestors used to use. It was only supposed to be us two, and no one else."

"But," Amber interrupted. "Since you're all here, let's celebrate!"

Sonic, Amy, and Rouge looked down on the floor. "Actually Amber," Rouge said. "We're here for a different reason."

Amber cocked her head. "What's that?"

"Well," Sonic began when Rouge interrupted him. "Please Sonic, let me tell her."

Sonic nodded as Rouge spoke. "I was on another jewel heist in a G.U.N. laboratory when I accessed a computer." Rouge paused slightly, collecting herself. "I hacked into it and came across a file labeled Project Shadow. I skimmed through it and at the bottom of the screen it said…" Rouge paused again while a tear rolled down her cheek. "That Shadow has been captured."

Amber's eyes widened. "CAPTURED?" She screamed.

Rouge nodded. "Yes, he's being held at G.U.N. base Alpha at the Sandstone Canyon."

"But," Amber said in disbelief. "He's the ultimate life form!"

Sonic sighed. "Amber, I know Shadow is pretty strong, but you don't know what G.U.N. is capable of. They could be experimenting on him right now and that's why we need to rescue him!"

Amber nodded. "Yeah, we have to get to him right away. But, where is Sandstone Canyon?"

Sonic smirked. "Don't worry about that, I've been there before and I can bring us there with Chaos Control!"

Amber nodded. "Alright, let me just change."

Sonic nodded as Amber went back into the woods. She traveled through the lush green forest until she came upon the house Knuckles and she had recently built. Going inside, the yellow hedgehog went up the stairs to her room and to the closet, picking out her usual attire consisting of black pants, a red tank top, and her black hover boots. She slid on her gloves properly and tightened the outfit over her body and headed back towards the group.

"You guys ready?" She asked.

"Whoa, I forgot something!" Knuckles shouted.

Sonic sighed. "What now red?"

Knuckles glared at him. "Well, what are we going to do about the Master Emerald?"

Sonic rolled his eyes. "The same thing you always do when you can't take it with you, let Tikal and Chaos guard it!"

Knuckles snapped his fingers. "Oh yeah, I forgot about that!"

The red echidna ran up to the altar and placed his right hand on the top of the Master Emerald and closed his eyes. "Tikal, Chaos, we need your help!"

The emerald started giving off a bright green color before two figures materialized in front of the echidna. One was a lavender female echidna and the other was a water creature.

The peach colored echidna turned to the male in front of her. "What do you require assistance with, guardian?"

"Well," Knuckles began. "I have to help save a friend of mine and I was wondering if you and Chaos could watch the Master Emerald for me."

The female smiled and nodded. "Of course we will guardian; you need not worry about the safety of the emerald, go and aid your companions."

Knuckles smiled at the other echidna. "Thanks Tikal."

The female smiled back. "Do not thank me; it is my duty, now go!"

Knuckles nodded and ran back tot eh group. "She said she'll handle it."

Sonic smiled. "All right, you all ready to go?"

Everyone nodded.

The blue hedgehog closed his eyes as Rouge, Amy, Amber, and Knuckles all put their hands on his shoulder.

"Chaos Control!" Sonic shouted as they disappeared in another green flash of light.

Sandstone Canyon

The group reappeared on a giant windy boulder, sitting just on the edge of a giant canyon that dropped miles below.

Sonic looked over the edge and whistled. "Boy, that's a long way down."

Rouge looked at the sea hedgehog and rolled her eyes. "Come on Sonic, we have to focus on finding the base!"

Sonic snapped out of his trance and faced the albino bat, nodding. "Yeah, sorry 'bout that."

Rouge looked at Knuckles. "Knuckles, do you have any idea where he could be?"

Knuckles gave her a confused look. "How the hell am I supposed to know?"

Rouge gave him a questionable look. "I thought you were supposed to sense Chaos energy or… something like that."

Knuckles kept looking confused. "Um…no."

Rouge threw her hands up in the air. "Great, now what?"

Sonic interrupted. "Uh…Rouge?"

The bat snapped to face him. "What?"

Sonic cringed back a little. "Well, I can sense Shadow's energy; after all, we did fight together on several occasions so I know what it feels like."

Rouge smiled. "Great, can you do it now?"

Sonic nodded. "Yeah, I'll try."

The hedgehog closed his eyes. His consciousness separated from what was going on around him. He only looked for an energy signal, any kind of signal, one that gave him the slightest idea where his counter part was.

Suddenly, a faint burst of energy struck through his mind; he knew where Shadow was…

The blue hedgehog opened his eyes only to gaze into the anticipating faces of Rouge, Amy, Amber, and Knuckles.

The hedgehog jumped back slightly before speaking in an excited tone. "I know where he is."

Amber gasped. "Is he still alive?"

Sonic nodded. "Yeah, but barely. His Chaos energy is so weak; I can barely pick it up."

"Then what are we waiting for?" Rouge yelled. "Let's go!"

"Wait a minute!" Sonic interrupted. "We can't just go blazing through into G.U.N.'s main base! We'll all get killed!"

Everyone looked at him wide-eyed.

"Sonic just said something smart!" Amy mumbled.

"Yeah," Rouge agreed. "What's up with that?"

Sonic glared at the two females. "Hey, I'm not an idiot!"

Knuckles looked the other way and whistled.

Sonic looked at the echidna. "Shut up Knuckles! At least I didn't get tricked by Eggman fifty times!"

Knuckles looked back at him with a sly smile and lowered his eyelids. "Yeah, that may be true, but at least I got a wife!"

"Yeah…well….you…smell bad!" Sonic retorted.

"GUYS," Amy shouted. "We're getting off track. Let's go find Shadow!"

Sonic looked at the rose hedgehog, remembering why they were all here. "Oh yeah, come on, follow me guys!"

Sonic waved his hand as the rest of the group followed him. They all climbed multiple boulders and went past huge crack in the stone, ones that would surely seal their fate if they fell in. Finally, the group climbed over a rather large boulder, only to see a large hanger standing on a flat area of the rocky environment.

Rouge raised an eyebrow. "This is it?"

Knuckles chuckled slightly. "You can't be serious Sonic."

The sea mimicking hedgehog looked at the rest of the group. "Guys, I'm completely serious, I sense Shadow's energy in there!"

Amber nodded. "He's right guys, I sense my brother in there."

Knuckles punched his hands together. "Well, then let's get going!"

The rest of the group nodded and headed down to the hanger, which was no more than the size of a small mall. Sonic spotted a small door on the right side of the hanger and pointed to it. "Look guys, we can get in over there!"

The rest of the group followed his gaze and also spotted the door, heading down to it with the blue hedgehog in the lead.

The blue hedgehog now stood before the door and put his gloved hand onto the knob when he stopped and looked at the others.

"Do any of you have a Chaos Emerald by any chance; it would really help boost our chances." He asked.

Amber and Knuckles shook their heads while Rouge pulled out the white Chaos Emerald. "Yeah, I got one. Shadow gave it to me before he left."

Sonic nodded and pulled out the golden Chaos Emerald. "Cool, now we have two emeralds, which should help us out a lot."

The rest of the group nodded as Sonic turned back to the door.

With a deep breath, Sonic opened it…

G.U.N. Base Alpha

_Shadow was running, running through a long metallic hallway, ignoring the shouts for surrender by the soldiers chasing him. His only concern was focused on the small blonde girl that was holding his right hand._

"_Halt or we'll open fire!"_

_Shadow looked back and growled at the soldier following him. With his free hand, the hedgehog launched a small Chaos Spear, knocking the soldier to the ground. Finally, the duo made its way to the escape pods in a small room._

_Shadow let go of Maria's hand and sealed the door. Immediately, loud pounding sounds and gun fire could be heard on the other side, obviously from the soldiers trying to break in._

_The hedgehog turned to his companion. "Maria, we have to get out of here!"_

_The young girl nodded. "Alright Shadow, you stand over there!" She said pointing to a small lighted ring. Shadow did as his mother told him and stood in the center of the circle._

_The young girl pushed some buttons and put her frail arms upon a lever when the door burst open, with at least twenty heavily armed soldiers all pointing their guns at Maria._

"_Don't do it girl!" One of the soldiers warned._

_Maria's face tensed up as she looked as Shadow. "Shadow, I beg of you!"_

_The dark hedgehog's angry gaze switched from the soldiers and to Maria, where his face immediately became softer._

_Maria continued. "For all the people on that planet!"_

_Maria's arms tensed up as she pulled the lever and a large glass tube fell over Shadow. The dark hedgehog's eyes widened in shock as he pounded on them. "Maria!" He shouted._

"_That's it girl!" The same soldier from before shouted as he pulled out a small handgun._

_Time seemed to freeze for Shadow as a single bullet was fired from the gun. Maria didn't even have time to scream as the bullet pierced her fragile chest._

_Time sped up again as Maria fell to the ground with a heavy thud. Shadow's eyes widened in anger and frustration. _

"_MAAARIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"_

_With her last bit of strength and will power, Maria raised her head up to face Shadow. "Sayonara, Shadow the Hedgehog._

_And with those final words, her head fell lifelessly to the ground._

_The soldier who had shot her turned to him. "Now that that girls done for, it's your turn!"_

_Shadow faced the soldier with a dark, sadistic look. A dark aura started to surround him as his eyes gradually glazed over from ebony dotted crimson to a complete black. _

_The soldier who had shot Maria turned to one of his colleagues. "What's he doing?"_

_A bead of sweat ran down Shadow's forehead as his fur blinked to complete ebony, matching his new eyes. A loud black explosion rocketed the entire space station as the capsule Shadow was in burst in a huge black inferno._

_The soldiers backed up out of instinct as the black light cleared, revealing the transformed ultimate life form. Every part of his body save the white fur on his chest and his muzzle was now completely black._

_The soldiers backed up in fear._

_Shadow's deadly gaze locked onto the soldier that had shot Maria. "You!" He spoke, his voice totally abnormal from what it was before. He now sounded like some kind of demon._

_One of the soldiers raised his gun and fired a shot at the hedgehog. Shadow didn't even bother to notice as the bullet bounced right off._

_The soldiers backed up slightly as Shadow advanced upon the entire group. An evil smile made its appearance on his face as two black energy orbs surrounded his hands._

_The demented, hell-bent Shadow spoke again. "Welcome to oblivion!"_

_Then everything went black…_

The Commander smiled as he looked upon a screen that allowed him to actually "see" all the flashbacks Shadow was going through. "Ah, so that's his Chaos form huh?" Well, once he transforms into that, he'll be the perfect killing machine."

"But sir," One of the scientists spoke. "Why did he transform into that form when the girl was shot and into another when we monitored his fight with 001?"

The Commander smirked. "Well, after this little incident, Professor Gerald knew that he could be a danger to the entire planet but instead of destroying 003, he set up a multiple number of sub-conscious blocks in 003's mind to prevent the form from surfacing again. Somehow though, 001 managed to destroy these blocks, so now the form is once again free to be unleashed."

The scientist looked back at the screen, where Shadow was slaughtering the G.U.N. soldiers with a multiple number of black energy blasts. "Sir, what if we can't control him?"

The Commander snapped to face him. "I will control him, you can be sure of that!"

The scientist nodded nervously, as of not to endanger his employment.

"I will control you, 003." The Commander whispered.

If he only knew how wrong he was…


	10. Assault on GUN

Author's Note- There are still some people unsure about the Chaos form, asking why Amber's is good and Eclipse's is evil. I want to clear up right now that the Chaos form is fueled by pure emotion. It depends on the emotions of the user to detirmine the Chaos form as good or bad (of course Shadow's "good" Chaos form is the Mega form.) Amber also has the capabillity to turn into her "evil" Chaos form as well, so I guess you could call Amber's Chaos form that was shown in The True Ultimate her Mega form. Amber's Chaos form will probably never be shown anyhow so I will still refer to the form she entered in The True Ultimate her Chaos form, even though she is not evil while in that form. Her Chaos form is a sort of "mix" between the Mega and Chaos form.

Enjoy.

Chapter 10

Sonic and the rest of the group entered the seemingly empty warehouse. Darkness filled some parts of it, but some areas were illuminated by faint lights that shone through multiple windows, making the entire warehouse almost completely visible.

Rouge looked around, obviously confused by the warehouse's appearances. "You can't be serious."

Sonic looked at her. "I know it's hard to believe right now Rouge, but I definitely sense Shadow somewhere close to here.

Knuckles sighed. "Alright, we're not gonna find anything just standing here, let's look around."

The rest of the group nodded and proceeded to look around the old abandoned warehouse. The only clearly visible object in the warehouse was a single small jeep, with both doors open and the back also open, with a ramp sticking out of it. Obviously, something had been brought out from the jeep and transported elsewhere.

Rouge proceeded to check on the truck and slowly and cautiously walked around to its back, seeing it was completely empty, save for a small golden bracelet. The bat hopped into the truck and picked it up. Rouge examined it for a moment before realizing she had one just like it. The female moved her free hand over to her left glove and lifted the sleeve a little, revealing her wrist.

On the delicate yet powerful arm of the bat was the exact same bracelet.

_Flashback_

_Rouge smiled a little as the thought of what had just happened past through her mind. Sonic and Shadow, they had both defeated the Biolizard and were probably returning to the main control room right now._

_The bat could not wait. She would run up and hug both of them, especially Shadow. It might surprise the hedgehog a little but what the heck!_

_The door finally slid open. Rouge's smile immediately faded once she saw only Sonic was standing before them, a golden bracelet in his right hand._

_Rouge raised a trembling hand up to her mouth, refusing to believe the reason he held the object._

"_Where's Shadow?" She asked with sadness in her voice._

_The blue hedgehog only looked to the ground and shook his head solemnly._

_Slowly, he walked over to her and placed the bracelet into her hand. Unbeknownst to her, a single tear slid down her cheek and landed on the bracelet, where it simply bounced off and disappeared._

_End Flashback_

"Shadow…" Rouge whispered. She would not lose him again.

The bat clinched onto the bracelet and hopped back out of the truck, raising it up into the air. "Guys, Shadow was here!" She yelled to the others, catching their attention.

Sonic and the rest turned to Rouge but instead of joyful faces, fear was plastered on their expressions. Rouge tilted her head before Sonic yelled at the top of his voice. "BEHIND YOU!"

With lighting fast speed, the bat whirled around to see a large silver arm swinging at her. She skillfully managed to dodge the attack by jumping over it, using the arm as a boost to elevate herself higher.

The bat landed behind the assailant, still clutching onto the bracelet that she had found. The attacker revealed itself to be mechanical and looked really quit advanced. It turned its head slightly to reveal two bright blue cybernetic eyes under its armor.

Rouge was momentarily in awe by the robot but came back to reality when it raised its fist to try and deliver another blow. Rouge darted out of the way, with the fist crashing down upon the metallic floor, just were she had previously stood, denting it.

Sonic immediately ran to the bat's aid. "Don't worry Rouge, I got this! Sonic Wind!"

A blue gust of energy was summoned from the hedgehog's hand and shot at the robot, knocking it back into one of the hanger walls. It slumped down on the ground, apparently defeated.

Knuckles, Amy, and Amber all ran over to Rouge.

"You okay Rouge?" Amber asked.

The bat nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"Where did that thing come from?" Amy asked.

Rouge looked around slightly until she spotted a large metallic door, with nothing but neon lights coming from the other side. She pointed to it. "I think it came from out there!"

The rest of the group looked over to the spot the bat pointed to and also saw the metallic path. "Should we follow it?" Knuckles asked.

Rouge nodded. "Of course, I bet you anything Shadow's being held in there!"

Everyone nodded and proceeded over to the door. Rouge trudged behind a little and carefully slipped the bracelet she had found on the opposite hand from which the other one occupied. Before anyone noticed, the bat pulled down her sleeve, concealing the item.

The entire group then proceeded into the neon light hallway, hoping to find Shadow there.

Hanger

The robot that had slumped against the wall all this time suddenly beeped to life again and stood upright. It lifted its right arm as a small screen ejected from it. In it, it showed the face of the Commander.

"What is it?" the Commander asked through the small com link.

"We have intruders in the facility." The robot replied in a monotone voice.

The Commander's eyes widened. "Intruders? How? Why?"

"They mentioned something about their companion Shadow." The mech replied.

"Ah yes, they must be those annoying group of heroes, can you describe them for me?" He asked.

"Affirmative," The mech replied. "A blue male hedgehog, a pink female hedgehog, a red male echidna, a golden female hedgehog, and a white female bat."

The Commander smirked. "Ah yes, I know all about them. Do not worry, return to me and I will give you further instructions."

The mech nodded. "Affirmative!"

The small screen retracted back to its arm as the mech blazed down the same hallway the heroes took.

Hallway

Rouge and the others ran through the brightly light hallway, trying to find their dark companion.

Rouge looked back to Sonic. "Hey, do you sense him anywhere?"

Sonic closed his eyes in mid-run, searching for Shadow's energy signature. He opened his eyes again. "Yeah, but it's getting weaker!"

Rouge's eyes widened. "Well then, let's hurry up!"

Sonic smirked. "Don't tell me to hurry up Rougey, I'm the fastest thing alive!"

And with those cocky words, Sonic sped off ahead of the others to find Shadow as soon as possible.

Amy sighed. "He's such a show-off!"

Rouge rolled her eyes. "Oh well, let's just follow him."

The rest of the group nodded and sped onward. Rouge noticed a brightly light room off to the left and decided to enter it, thinking Shadow might be there. The others followed the albino bat and everyone stopped when they found themselves to be in a large oval white room with a small glass observation tube on the right of the room.

Knuckles looked around, slightly confused. "Where the heck are we?"

Suddenly, the door from which the group entered sealed shut. Knuckles' eyes widened as he banged to the door, but to no avail.

"Damn," He cursed. "We're trapped!"

"Welcome, my dear visitors!"

Everyone whirled around at the sound of that voice and noticed a rather over-sized monitor hanging from the ceiling with a dark haired blue eyed man in a G.U.N. uniform.

"Who are you?" Amy asked.

The Commander smiled. "I am the new Commander of G.U.N., and I must ask you to leave this place or suffer the consequences!"

Rouge shook her head. "No way! Not until we have Shadow!"

The Commander smirked and looked at the bat. "Ah, you must be talking about 003."

Rouge glared at him. "Call him what you want, but we came here for him and we're not leaving without him!"

The Commander laughed slightly. "From what I can tell, you must really be attached to this creature."

Rouge's glare increased. "That has nothing to do with this!"

The Commander raised a finger. "Ah, but it does. Why else would you risk your life and come all the way out in the middle of nowhere. Surely not for someone you call just a friend."

"Listen you!" Amy interrupted. "We came to save Shadow, and if you try and stop us, we're gonna knock that cocky smirk right off your face."

The Commander shifted his attention to the rose hedgehog. "She must understand this little girl." He turned back to Rouge. "A creature such as 003 was not meant to love. He is a weapon, and he will always be a weapon. Do not waste your petty emotions on a creature such as him. Go home!"

Rouge shook her head, tears beginning to swell up in the corners of her eyes. "You're wrong!"

The Commander smirked. "Oh, am I? What do you think 003 was created for? Love? I don't think so. 003 was created for a single purpose…to serve me!"

Amber interjected at that statement. "You're wrong!"

The Commander shifted his attention to the one who spoke. Once he recognized her, his eyes widened. "002?" He asked in disbelief.

Amber glared at him. "I prefer to be called Amber."

The Commander smiled. "Well, I'm glad you came 002, because now I have two of the three final ultimate life forms, unfortunately, 001 perished at the hands of 003 but you more than make up for it!"

Amy laughed. "What do you mean "unfortunately"? Eclipse would've fried you in a second if you tried talking to him like you are to us!"

The Commander glared at the girl. "There is a way to control everything," He said stepping back to reveal what was behind him. "As you can see."

Everyone's eyes widened. "Shadow!" Rouge said in disbelief at the sight of the dark hedgehog strapped into some kind of machine, screaming out of misery and pain, although they couldn't hear it but his mouth movements made it totally obvious.

The Commander stepped back into the picture, blocking the image of the hedgehog. "Now, this is your last chance, leave or parish!"

Rouge glared at the Commander, her normally peaceful eyes ignited in anger. "You, let him go! Let him go or I'll kill you!"

The Commander chuckled evilly. "That's a promising statement! But…since you don't want to leave, I guess you'll just have to be helped along the way!"

The Commander snapped his fingers as two metallic doors slid open, with three of the mechs the group had previously encountered, pouring out of each door. "Have fun with my S.D. mechs!" The Commander said while laughing.

The screen stayed in its place as the Commander observed the whole incident, obviously not wanting to miss a good show as the mechs charged for the group.

Hallway

"OH CRAP!" Sonic screamed as another rocket barely missed him, hitting the wall instead and creating a huge hole. He had run into some "unfortunate" trouble on his search for Shadow and was currently being chased by an S.D. mech through the metallic hallway. A large black strip was across the mech's chest, specifying that that mech was the one that group had encountered back in the hanger.

He felt Shadow's energy signal getting stronger as he rounded another corner. "I must be close now." Sonic mumbled.

The blue hedgehog rounded another corner as another rocket barely missed him. He looked up ahead to see a bright light in front of him. "Shadow must be in there!" Sonic screamed happily while dodging another rocket.

The blue hedgehog ran into the room as his smile disappeared, being replaced by a look of total shock. He was in a small metallic laboratory with only two doors, the one he had come from and another at the end of the room. Multiple pieces of equipment filled the room but most noticeable were the four S.D. mechs, all pointing their cannons at Sonic.

Sonic smiled slightly. "Ups, wrong door." He said while backing up. "I'll just be going now!" He said as he turned back around, only to face a sealed door with the S.D. mech that had chased him blocking it.

Sonic looked back from both sides of the room multiple times, a cocky smirk forming on his face. "OKAY, BRING IT ON!" He shouted as he charged for the single S.D. mech to his right.

Author's Note- Thank you to everyone that has reviewed and followed this story so far but I am sad to say that...I will be going on vacation! So I'm not really that sad but I am a little down since I won't be giving you any new chapters for one week. Don't worry though, as soon as I come back and as soon as I log onto my account, you shall have Chapter 11!

Until next time.


	11. Horrible Discovery

Chapter 11

Lab

Sonic came at the S.D. mech with a powerful kick, knocking the robot back a little. The blue hedgehog jumped back slightly and charged again, only to be swatted away with a metallic claw.

Sonic was sent catapulting against the nearby wall and slid down, a thin line of blood seeping from the corner of his mouth. The sea hedgehog stood up, wiping the blood away with the back of his hand.

He glared at the mech that had delivered the blow. "I've had about enough of you!" Sonic screamed. The hedgehog raised his fist into the air and brought it down, with a long blue gust of energy bursting forth from the spot where the fist had swept by.

The mech was hit head on with the Sonic Wind and knocked back into a large metallic table, completely destroying it in a cloud of smoke. Sonic did not waste any precious time however, as he charged for the other four by standing robots.

The one to the far left lashed out at him with his right arm as Sonic ducked under it to prevent injury. The one in the middle left also came at the hedgehog with an attack, but with a straight punch. Sonic darted out of the way just in time to avoid being hit by the attack.

Sonic took the chance and delivered a blow of his own to the mech in the middle right, knocking it off its feet. Still in mid-air, the blue hedgehog delivered a devastating blow to the mech in the middle left side, cracking open its armor a little.

Sonic landed on the ground and surveyed his damage when he spotted something red inside of the mech, whose armor was busted open. Sonic's eyes widened. "A Chaos Emerald?"

Suddenly, the blue hedgehog was knocked back by another metallic hand. Sonic flipped in mid-air and recovered from the attack, once again seeing the mech from the hallway before him. The hedgehog smirked. "You just won't stay down, will you?"

The blue speedster charged again and curled up into a spin ball, tackling himself against the mech's chest. The armor slowly began to give way under the force and sharpness of Sonic's spines and finally burst. Sonic jumped back from the assault and saw an interior of black wires all surrounding the purple Chaos Emerald.

Sonic smiled triumphantly and charged for the robot, digging his hands into the interior and ripping the Chaos Emerald out. Sonic landed on the ground again and examined it. "That makes three." He said since the golden and white ones were already in his possession.

The robot sizzled a little but remained on its feet. "Wait a second" Sonic said. 'If that one had a Chaos Emerald in it, then…'

The blue hedgehog smirked as he let the three emeralds he had float around him. He closed his eyes as they gave off a powerful glow. Through the armor of the other four mechs, multiple lights also started shinning.

A golden flame surrounded Sonic as his fur burst to a bright and solid gold. The hero now floated slightly above the ground as he opened his eyes, revealing them to be a devilish red.

"DANGER, DANGER!" The robot without the breast plate droned. "SEVERE POWER INCREASE, SEVERE POWER INCREASE!"

The super powered Sonic smirked. "That's right, now prepare to be turned into scrap metal!"

Physical Training Room

Rouge barely dodged another metallic fist as she rolled on the ground and released an attack of her own. "Black Wave!"

The black wave of energy flew from the bat's hand and hit the robot straight in the head, denting the armor around it. Rouge growled as she charged for the robot and delivered a spin kick to its head, opening the armor a little more.

The bat jumped back to recover as the S.D. mech charged for her with a drawn fist. Lashing out at the bat, the fist barely missed and Rouge took the opportunity to grab a small capsule like explosive from her belt and throw it into the small hole in the head armor she had created.

The treasure hunter took flight and smirked at the robot below. "So long metal head!"

On cue, the head of the robot exploded in a red inferno as the rest of the body dropped down to the floor with a clank. The bat smiled at the fall of her enemy. "Only five left!" Rouge yelled.

Meanwhile, Amy and Knuckles were fighting alongside each other, having absolutely no problems handling two of the S.D. mechs.

The first charged for Knuckles and was about to strike out at him when its face collided with a giant hammer, courtesy of Amy. The robot stumbled back as Knuckles lashed out with his powerful fist, digging deep into the robot's interior.

The red echidna removed his fist as the robot's eyes turned gray, with its body falling to the ground immediately after. The other mech charged at that very same moment and knocked Knuckles right in the face, sending him crashing to the ground.

The echidna quickly jumped back up and wiped some blood off his face. In the meantime, Amy took it upon herself to deliver a lethal blow to the head of the mech, nearly decapitating it.

The robot's stumbling gave Knuckles enough time to charge up an attack as a yellow light emitted from his closed fist. "Thunder Arrow!"

The echidna lashed his arm out and opened his hand, sending the attack straight for the mech, who was hit with it in the head, completely destroying the armor, revealing what looked like a humanoid head made of black wires and two blue eyes.

Amy took her chance and began spinning on her left heel, creating a small gust of wind. The pink hedgehog continued spinning until she gained enough velocity and released her attack. "Heart Tornado!"

A giant pink and violet tornado burst from Amy's hammer and struck thee mech right in the head, completely destroying it. "M-Mi-ss-ss-ss-ion F-F-F-ai-ai-led." It stuttered before falling to the ground with a loud clank.

Meanwhile, Amber was cleaning house with the three robots she was facing, simply firing Chaos Arrows at the mechs, and gradually destroying their armor. Finally, the golden hedgehog stopped the attacks and gave the bots a breather, revealing their dented and ripped armor.

Amber smirked as she teleported over to the three mechs, glowing a bright yellow. "Chaos Shield!"

A giant yellow wave of Chaos energy was sent spiraling from the female's body, totally engulfing the three S.D. mechs. The attack cleared to reveal a few bits of armor and wires left.

All four companions smiled triumphantly as they walked back into clear view of the monitor, looking at the Commander, who had a shocked expression on his face.

"How is it possible?" He asked.

Amber smirked. "What I wanna know, is how it is possible you captured Shadow? These things couldn't stand up to us and Shadow is just as powerful as me, maybe even stronger."

The Commander looked at Amber. "Do not worry about how we captured 003, all that matters is that we did!"

"Yeah,"" Rouge said laughing. "You probably drugged him while he was asleep or something."

The Commander glared at the she-bat. "Shut up, you filthy bat!"

Rouge smirked at the Commander's reaction. "No need to get angry!"

The bat motioned to Knuckles to break open the door and he nodded, understanding her plan. She looked back to the Commander. "Now, why don't you just tell us where Shadow is, and we won't have to rip you to pieces!"

The Commander chuckled. "I HIGHLY doubt that."

Rouge looked back over her shoulder when she heard a loud bag. Knuckles had broken the door! The bat looked back to the Commander. "Oh well, nice talking to ya!"

The Commander's eyes widened as Rouge, Amy, Amber, and Knuckles all darted out of the room.

"DAMN IT!" He shouted before the screen went black.

Lab

Sonic raised his hand and pointed at the four mechs before him. Golden sparks danced across his palm. "Super Sonic Wind!" He shouted as a giant golden gust filled with what looked like Chaos Spears shot out at the four mechs, sending them into the wall, completely burned and destroyed.

Sonic faced the last remaining mech, the one that had chased him to this room in the beginning. He saluted him while he raised his right hand again. "See ya buddy! Super Sonic Wind!"

The attack shot out again and blew the mech sky high, scorching the metallic ground. Sonic smirked as he lowered himself back to the ground, his Super form disappearing. He slowly and almost nonchalantly walked over to the burning remains of the four mechs to his right and picked up the red, light blue, dark blue and green Chaos Emeralds from the rubble.

"I've got all seven now!" He murmured.

Psychiatric Room

The Commander slammed his fists down out of frustration. "How could my five elite S.D. mechs be destroyed by one hedgehog? They were all powered by a Chaos Emerald!"

The Commander let out a growl before looking back to the suffering Shadow. "Nothing will stop me from controlling you 003, NOTHING!"

Lab

The blue hedgehog faced the door which he had yet to open with the seven emeralds floating around his head. "I'm coming Shadow."

And with those words spoke, the hedgehog ran through the final door, with the Chaos Emeralds still in his grasp.

Hallway

Sweat ran down Rouge's face as she continued to run alongside Amber, Amy, and Knuckles. She really had no idea where she was but a few skid marks and holes in the metallic walls and ground told her that her blue companion was previously on this exact same route.

After a few minutes of running, the group finally spotted a bright light, signaling the position of another room. Rouge smiled wearily as she and the rest of the group ran through. The bat gasped slightly at what she saw.

It was a small lab, equipment was destroyed and at least five metal carcasses of the mechs they had previously fought lay scattered around the room. The light above them flickered a little, giving the group an eerie feeling.

Knuckles whistled. "Boy, Sonic sure kicked their asses!"

Rouge looked back at the red echidna. "Yeah," She said before pointing to a door in front of them. "And I bet anything he went through that door!"

Amber, Amy, and Knuckles nodded as the group sped through the lab, dodging several piles of metal and proceeding through the door…

With Sonic

Sonic stopped abruptly when he saw the person he had been searching for strapped to some kind of mechanical seat, with a plastic bubble surrounding him, screaming out of misery and pain.

The Commander, along with two scientists, whirled around, eyes wide. "How in the hell did you get here!" The Commander shouted.

Sonic momentarily took his gaze from his dark counter part and looked at the Commander, his normally peaceful emerald eyes ablaze. "YOU!' The enraged blue hedgehog shouted, pointing a finger at the Commander. "How dare you do that to Shadow? Let him go right now!"

The Commander chuckled. "You must be joking. After all I went through to get him, you expect me to simply hand him over to you?"

Sonic clenched his fist when the door behind him slid open. Rouge, Amy, Amber, and Knuckles all ran to the blue hedgehog's side.

"You okay Sonic?" Amy asked.

Sonic looked back at her, his fiery gaze disappearing for a second. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"Well, now that you're all here, you shall witness my control over the ultimate life form!" The Commander shouted.

Rouge glared at him. "Yeah right! Give it up! Your little plan is over!"

The Commander laughed. "Oh contraire, it is just beginning."

But what the Commander didn't know is that the unlocking of Shadow's darkest form could bring forth the end to the entire planet…

Author's Note- There, just like I promised, Chapter 11. The next one should be up soon so keep an eye out for it.

Until next time.


	12. The Evil Within

Chapter 12

Rouge stepped forward, flames now radiating in her jade eyes. "You free him right now! You're outnumbered!"

The Commander smirked. "Well, that may be the case but since I have 003, I'm sure no one would be foolish enough to try anything."

Sonic growled. "You don't know what you're dealing with! Didn't you hear that Shadow almost destroyed this entire planet…twice?"

The Commander looked at the blue speed demon. "That won't be an issue, now that he is under my control!"

Inside Memory Machine

_Burning…_

_My entire body was burning…_

_My vision became foggy…_

_The smell of burned flesh…_

_The pain…the excruciating pain_

"_Maria," I whispered. "This is what you wanted right? This is my promise I made to you…"_

_I fell…fell from Ark after defeating the monstrosity that dared challenge my worth as the ultimate life._

_It was vanquished, with some help from my counter part…_

_The deed had been done, my life's purpose had been fulfilled…I had no more reasons to live._

_The fur singed from the ferocious heat of the atmosphere. This was it…my demise; the ultimate life form will be no more._

_My face cringed up as the heat intensified. "Maria, I will be with you soon…"_

_Those words left my dry lips in what I thought to be my last statement as a living creature._

_I closed my eyes and smiled, awaiting and welcoming death._

_I suddenly felt cold metallic arms wrap themselves securely around my damaged and now defenseless body._

_Wait…this is wrong…it isn't suppose to happen._

_I had eluded death once again._

Outside

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Everyone in the group snapped their heads in the direction of the scream that just echoed through the room. The dark hedgehog currently trapped within his own memories had let out that horrific scream of pain.

Amber stepped forward and walked up to the Commander, her eyes flaring with anger. "What are you doing to him?" She hissed while grabbing the Commander by the collar.

The Commander smirked. "I'm exploiting his only weakness; his memories!"

Sonic's eyes widened. "Oh no," He turned to Knuckles. "We have to get him out of there, NOW!"

Knuckles nodded nervously and dashed to the small bubble alongside the blue hero.

Sonic and the red echidna came to a halt in front of the bubble containing the screaming Shadow. Sonic turned to Knuckles, wearing a look of anxiety. "Do you think you can break it?"

Knuckles nodded unsurely. "Yeah, I think so."

The echidna readied himself before the bubble and drew his right fist back. With a loud battle cry, the echidna slammed his spiked fist against the bubble. Seconds passed like hours as everyone in the room remained totally still. The bubble did not show any signs of breaking.

Knuckles drew his fist back. "Damn, I can't do it!"

Sonic growled in frustration when a thought hit him. He still had the Chaos Emeralds!

The blue hedgehog smiled as he pulled the seven mystical gems towards his body, which began to glow a bright yellow. The emeralds levitated off the arms of the hedgehog and encircled him as they too began glowing their respective colors.

Sonic closed his eyes as the energy of the emeralds flowed through him. He could feel his powers rising greatly. Then, in a burst of light, the emeralds emitted a loud boom as Sonic's fur erupted to a beautiful gold.

The hedgehog opened his eyes to reveal them to no be a bloody red. But there was something different about the hedgehog this time. His Super form seemed stronger than it did before, and Knuckles and Amber were sensing this change.

The golden female hedgehog released the Commander, who fell to the ground, and stared at Sonic. "There's something different about him, he's stronger!"

Knuckles nodded. "Yeah, I felt an increased energy as well."

"Sonic?" Amber asked. "What happened to you?"

The golden Super hedgehog looked over his shoulder and smiled. "I guess you can say I gained some experience over the usage of the emeralds."

Knuckles snapped his fingers. "Of course, the repeated use of the emeralds transferred more and more Chaos energy into your body and now you're stronger every time you use them!"

Sonic smiled again. "I guess you could say that."

"Um," Rouge interrupted. "Aren't…WE FORGETTING SOMETHING?" She screamed while pointing at Shadow.

Sonic nodded and looked back to the dark hedgehog's location, raising his right arm. "Super Sonic Wind!"

A giant golden gust of Chaos energy was summoned from the Super hedgehog's hand and flew straight at the capsule containing Shadow, impacting with a loud boom, followed by a giant cloud of smoke.

Everyone waited in anticipation as the cloud of smoke cleared. The capsule was still containing Shadow, but there was a large black hole in the spot where the attack had made impact.

Sonic growled as he raised his hand to summon another attack when Amber stepped next to him. The female smiled as her fur burst to a very heavy gold, and her peaceful yellow eyes were replaced by fierce red ones.

Amber also raised her hand and pointed it at the capsule. Before either could release the attack however, Knuckles, Amy, and Rouge stepped next to the two, also stretching out their arms towards the capsule.

With multiple glows, each began summoning their respective attack. In unison, all members of the group drew their hands back, multiple lights emitting from their hands. Then, as if rehearsed, they all shot their arms out and released their attacks.

"Super Sonic Wind!"

"Chaos Beam!"

"Thunder Arrow!"

"Pink Tornado!"

"Black Wave!"

The attacks all shot out at incredible speeds and hit the capsule dead-on, shaking the entire room and summoning a cloud of smoke.

It cleared after a few seconds to reveal the badly damaged capsule containing Shadow. Multiple holes dotted its mechanical body, huge burns marks consumed it, and there was practically only half of it left. That, however, was enough to transmit one more memory, the one that would push Shadow beyond the point of sanity…

_Shadow followed his gaze and saw he was looking at Rouge. "No…" Shadow immediately tried to dash for Rouge to protect her when Eclipse beat him to her. Rouge didn't even have time to scream as Eclipse lifted her with his left claw and elevated himself far enough so the rest didn't reach him._

_Shadow looked totally despaired and Eclipse loved every second of it. Shadow watched in horror as Eclipse held Rouge in his tight grip. 'No! It can't be!' Shadow thought. It was all just like his nightmare._

"_THIS IS WHY YOU WILL NEVER BE A TRUE ULTIMATE LIFE FORM SHADOW" Eclipse bellowed at the horrified Shadow. With these words, the beast took one of his claws and stuck it forcefully into the white bat's stomach._

_Blood erupted from the wound as well as the bat's mouth as Shadow watched on in horror. The beast let go off the bat with a smirk plastered on his face. A primal scream echoed through the sky. Shadow then realized that it was his own. "ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUGE!"_

_Rouge landed on the ground with a heavy thud as the entire group was silent. Blood continued to pour out of the bat's stomach as she lay completely motionless. Amy, Amber, Sonic, and Knuckles all immediately ran over to her to check while the dark hedgehog known by the name of Shadow just stood there with his red eyes wide in disbelief and his right hand outstretched_

Shadow's face slowly contorted, as he unconsciously clenched his gloved hands into tight balls. Sweat ran down his face and a gray aura of chaotic energy was surrounding him.

With the Others

Rouge gasped as she put a hand to her mouth. "What's happening to him?" She asked fearfully.

Sonic's wide red eyes turned into slits as he gathered another attack. "I can't let this happen."

_Amy took a knee in front of her fallen friend and rolled Rouge over on her back to look at her face. The bat's eyes were closed and dry blood mixed with sweat and tears covered her face. The normal rising and falling of the stomach had ceased and it was easy to reach the inevitable conclusion._

_Everyone else waited in anticipation as a few tears trickled down Amber's cheek. Finally, Amy turned to the rest of the group and whispered almost silently. "She's dead…"_

_Even though a good few yards away, Shadow's sensitive ears picked up the pink hedgehog's words. He slowly lowered his right hand down to his side as he clenched both of his fists. A dull white energy started to surround the black hedgehog. Shadow's eyes widened in anger and sorrow._

_Amy and the others, who were by now weeping for their fallen friend, felt a strange gust of wind. They all looked back to see Shadow standing there, his fists were clenched and a white energy surrounded him._

_Eclipse smirked while observing Shadow. "HMM, I WONDER WHAT HE'S GONNA DO NOW? NOW THAT I PUT THAT BAT OUT OF COMISSION!"_

_The dull white energy surrounding Shadow burst to a much brighter tone as the unnatural wind around him also picked up. The dark hedgehog had already closed his eyes and his face was contorted._

_Amber, though frightened at this sudden phenomenon, stepped forth. "Shadow?" She asked quietly._

_Suddenly, Shadow's eyes shot wide open to reveal his pupils completely gone. Amy put her hand over her mouth and gasped. "What's…happening to him?"_

_Shadow's body tensed up even more as the energy surrounding him got brighter and brighter. His eyes were still pupil-less and he was now facing the ground. His lips were curved up to reveal his bared white teeth. The dark hedgehog's head seemed to be shaking slightly._

_Amber took another step towards her brother. "Shadow?" Still, no response. "Shadow please!" Once again, Shadow was silent. "ANSWER ME!" Amber yelled._

_Mimicking a machine, Shadow's head shot up as his completely white eyes seemed focused on her. Amber took a step back but stopped retreating when she heard Shadow's voice._

"_Rouge…"_

_Amber looked back at the dead bat behind her. All of a sudden, there was a bright burst of light as Amber looked back towards her brother. Even in his original state, he was hovering slightly as he brought his arms to his sides, fists still clenched. He looked to be in some what of a power up position._

"_Shadow?" Sonic asked._

"_ROOOOOUUUUUUGE!" Then, another flash of light blinded the group. Everyone's hands shot up out of instinct. Through their split fingers now covering their eyes however, they witnessed everything._

_In the blinding light, Shadow's black quills started to waver and stand on end. The black hedgehog closed his eyes again to hide their pupil-less state. Finally, something inside of Shadow sparked as he felt his true power, his true form, being released._

_Then, in less than a second, Shadow threw his entire body back. "HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"_

The gray energy around Shadow suddenly burst to a midnight black as his eyes shot wide open. Just like his Mega form transformation, they were completely white.

Sonic's attack withered away as he backed up slowly, along with everyone else. Amber stood her ground and quivered slightly. "No, he's transforming."

_A machine…_

_Built for war…_

_Useless…_

_Heartless…_

_Without a soul…_

_Unable to protect her…_

_It will happen again…_

_You cannot stop it…_

_Maria…_

_Amber…_

_Rouge…_

_Can't…protect…_

_The darkness…you cannot escape it…_

_It will consume you…_

_You will slaughter them…_

_Darkness…_

_Hate…_

_Power…_

_Chaos._

"HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

Wires ripped under the pressure of the energies that Shadow was giving off as the hedgehog levitated off the seat, his eyes shinning an unnatural black. The dark hedgehog clenched his fists as a dark outline of energy surrounded him. Black crackles of pure energy danced across his body as the entire room began to shake. The dark hedgehog's teeth clenched with such force, they were on the point of cracking.

This was it...Shadow's darkest form.

Sonic's eyes widened as he yelled to the others. "TAKE COVER!"

"CHAAAAAAAAAAAAAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOS BLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAST!"

A huge black inferno of energy shot out of Shadow's body, consuming everything, metal and organic alike. The entire base was consumed by the black light, obliterating everything and anything. Metal and equipment was flung into the air before gravity took its effect and brought it back down into the devilish black light. No screams were heard, only the loud sound of the attack, along with the sound of Shadow's new, demented laugh.

The last thing seen before the light consumed it all was the new Commander's horror stricken face, finally realizing that he had pushed Shadwo beyond his sanity, and it would cost him his life.

G.U.N. was no more.

The light cleared to reveal the inconceivable damage the dark one had done. There was hardly anything left. The entire underground base had been wiped out, along with all who resided within.

All that was left was a huge crater with some piles of metal. The ground was also void of any technology, only covered in fine rusty sand.

Through the miniature Armageddon, a small golden ball of Chaos energy shone through all the metal and dirt.

Amber breathed out heavily as she lowered her hands along with Sonic, causing the shield they had put up in last minute to disappear.

The still super powered hedgehogs turned to the others, who were completely unharmed. Sonic smiled out of relief when a loud crashing sound snapped him back to attention. The hero directed his gaze to a small black crater covered in a pile of metal.

Suddenly, multiple black lights shone through the cracks in the metallic dome as they were sent flying into the air, coming down on various spots, digging into the dirt.

Everyone's eyes widened.

Standing before them was a hedgehog, one which they had never seen. His fur was completely black along with his malicious looking eyes. In fact, the only color besides black that was on his body was his white chest fur, his tan muzzle, and the whites of his eyes His mouth was turned into an angry snarl as he gazed at the small group.

His quills stood totally vertical, pointing towards the harsh sun that was beating down on all of them and they slowly wavered in unison with the dark energy he emitted.

A deep black flame of pure energy surrounded the hedgehog, and with his white gloves clenched by his sides, it looked like he was ready for a battle.

On his feet were the shoes everyone recognized, red and white hover shoes, as they all came to the same conclusion.

Shadow had transformed into his Chaos form...the fate of the planet would be now decided...


	13. Shadow Attacks

Chapter 13

Time seemed to stand still as Shadow's deadly gaze continued to burn a hole into the shocked on-lookers. Everyone's eyes were completely wide, almost popping out of their heads. The black hedgehog in front of them had not moved an inch as his ebony quills wavered in unison with the black energy flame surrounding him.

Sonic gulped down a dry lump in his throat and opened his mouth to speak to the transformed Shadow. "Shadow?"

The dark hedgehog did not move a muscle, but only continued to stare at the group with that unnatural look on his face.

The Super powered Sonic stepped forward slightly. As soon as his foot landed on the dusty ground, Shadow's gaze fell directly on him as Sonic froze. Hs spoke again, trying to find any source of abnormality within his counter-part. "Shadow, are you okay?"

The midnight hedgehog once again, did not respond. Instead, his anger written face contorted again until his mouth closed, arching into a dark smirk, one which none of the heroes had ever seen before.

Amber also cautiously stepped forward towards her brother. "Shadow, please answer him."

The hedgehog directed his attention to the other Super hedgehog, his malicious smirk still remaining.

_Kill…_

_Kill them all!_

"Kill." Shadow whispered, listening to the voices inside his head.

_Seek the strongest…_

_And kill._

Shadow did not blink or move as he whispered again. "The…strongest."

The dark hedgehog closed his ebony eyes as he searched which one of the people in front of him had the highest energy reading. Shadow suddenly reopened them and averted his attention towards Sonic. "You…"

Sonic's red eyes widened slightly. "Shadow?"

The dark one raised his arm slowly and pointed at Sonic. "You…you are the strongest on this planet!"

Sonic stepped forward slightly. "So what if I am?" He challenged.

_Kill Him!_

_He is a threat!_

_Kill!_

The dark hedgehog smirked as he levitated his body off the ground, dark energy waves rolling off his ebony body. "Then…you must die!"

And as soon as that last letter left his demented lips, the dark hedgehog charged straight for Sonic. The Super hedgehog took a fighting stance and tensed up his body as Shadow raised his right fist, ready to deliver a lethal blow to the opposing one.

With a loud boom and the intertwining of gold and black, the two hedgehogs met, clashing with their elbows. Sonic cringed slightly under the force behind the dash and pushed against Shadow's elbow, sending him back a little.

Shadow didn't even hesitate or show signs of pain as he charged for Sonic again, this time delivering a powerful straight punch right to his face. Blood flew out of the golden hedgehog's mouth as he stumbled back.

The Chaos hedgehog immediately charged for him again with a straight kick, knocking the Super hedgehog off his feet. Shadow laughed manically as he drew back his hand, gathering a bright black ball of energy.

"Dark Chaos Spear!" He bellowed, shooting the energy blast straight at Sonic.

"Chaos Arrow!"

Before the Dark Chaos Spear impacted with Sonic, a bright yellow bolt of energy knocked it away, sending it to the ground and creating a huge crater in a giant explosion. Shadow did not show any signs of shock as he turned his head slightly to see Amber, still in her Super form, floating besides Sonic, breathing heavily.

Shadow smiled wickedly as he charged for the she-hog, only to meet with a large spiked fist. Shadow stopped in mid-charge and turned his head slightly to see Knuckles planting his fist against his cheek.

Shadow smiled evilly, showing his white teeth and pulled the fist away, tossing the echidna over his back.

_They do not matter…_

_Seek the strongest…_

_And kill._

Shadow redirected his attention back to Sonic, who was standing again, holding a bright golden ball of energy. "I don't know what's wrong with you Shadow, but I can't let you hurt my friends!"

Shadow smiled darkly as Sonic launched the ball of energy. Raising his hand, the dark hedgehog simply swatted the attack away, sending it high into the sky, where it disappeared.

Shadow lowered his hand again and kicked off the ground, charging for Sonic. The golden hedgehog got into a battle stance when suddenly, a snowy white bat jumped in the way. Shadow stopped charging immediately when he recognized the person Floating in a charging position, his black eyes were fixed on the bat.

_What are you waiting for?_

_Exterminate them!_

Shadow's face contorted slightly in pain as the bat spoke. "Please, Shadow! Come to your senses!"

_Kill her!_

Shadow shook his head. "No!"

_What?_

_I said kill her!_

_Kill her now!_

Shadow shook his head again, trying to clear out the demented voice that resided within his mind, while landing on the ground. "No, not her! What would it prove? She is not a threat!"

_Then remove her!_

Shadow stood up and smirked, gathering a small energy blast. With lighting fast speed, the hedgehog was in front of Rouge, blasting the small attack right into her stomach. Rouge's eyes widened as she bent over in pain and fell to the ground, unconscious.

Shadow smirked again as he stepped over the bat, once again directing his attention towards Sonic, who was in shock. "How could you Shadow?"

_You don't need love…_

_You have power._

"I don't need love!" Shadow repeated.

Sonic's wide eyes narrowed. "Fine Shadow, I guess there's only one way to deal with you now!"

Shadow smirked again. "Precisely!"

With those confident words, the demented Shadow charged for Sonic again, who warped out of the way of the attack just in time. Shadow stopped and raised his head, spotting the silhouette of the hedgehog against the bright sun.

"Hmph."

Shadow kicked off the ground at lighting fast speeds, with his left hand drawn back, a black light shinning from within. Sonic also reeled his left hand back, gathering a bright yellow ball of energy.

With a cocky smirk, Sonic released the attack upon the charging Chaos Shadow. The wave of energy would have been un-dodge able for anyone else, but Shadow's new powers let him easily warp to safety just in time, reappearing right behind Sonic.

"Dark Chaos Nightmare!"

A bright black ball of energy shot from Shadow's hand, impacting with the golden hedgehog full force. Sonic didn't even have time to scream as he plunged to the ground, his backside completely scorched.

With a thud, the blue hero landed on the ground, his Super form withering away. Amy screamed and immediately ran to his side. "Sonic," She said turning him over so she could see his face.

Sonic opened his left eye half way and smiled weakly. "It's alright….I'm fine."

Amy's eyes started to well up in tears as she flung herself into her hero's arms, who patted her back. "It's alright Amy."

Sky

The dark hedgehog who had just delivered a lethal attack to his blue counter part crossed his arms. "Hmph, he was the strongest?"

_He needs time to recover…_

_Fight the yellow hedgehog instead!_

Shadow's eyes widened slightly. "Amber?" He murmured.

_Yessssssss._

Shadow smiled darkly. "Very well," He said uncrossing his arms and looking down to his sister, who was nursing the still unconscious Rouge. In the blink of an eye, Shadow warped down towards Amber, who was beside Knuckles.

Both immediately jumped to their feet, putting Rouge behind them. Shadow smiled wickedly. "I am not interested in the bat."

He slowly raised his left arm and pointed a finger straight at Amber. "You, you will be my next victim!"

Knuckles stepped in front of Amber. "I don't think so Shadow!"

Shadow stared the echidna right in the eye, with his unnatural looking irises. "Come in my way and parish as well echidna."

Knuckles growled, raising his fist. "Look, I don't know what happened to you Shadow, but you won't lay a finger on Amber!"

Shadow laughed, a laugh that wasn't his own and sent shivers down everyone's spine. "I suppose you will stop me!"

"You bet your ass I will!" He shouted back and was about to engage in combat when he felt a warm hand on his shoulder. He looked back to see Amber, wearing an expression she had never had before, sorrow. "It's alright Knuckles…I'll fight him."

Knuckles' eyes widened. "You can't be serious!"

Amber smiled slightly. "Oh, but I am." She made a small notion with her head, signaling Knuckles to look down. When he did, his eyes widened in surprise. The Chaos Emeralds were at their feet! All seven!

Knuckles looked back up and smiled while nodding, understanding the plan. Knuckles stepped out of the way, leaving Shadow gazing directly at Amber. The dark hedgehog cracked his knuckles. "Time to meet your doom, sister!"

Amber smirked in retaliation. "You sound just like Eclipse."

Shadow's black eyes widened. "What?"

Before Amber responded again, another voice echoed through the air. "Thunder Arrow!"

Shadow looked up just in time to be met with the sight of Knuckles launching an attack straight at him. Caught by surprise, the hedgehog was hit and knocked back into a small pile of rubble. The concrete flew up from the impact before coming back down, burying the dark hedgehog.

Amber sighed in relief as Knuckles stood beside her. Slowly, the Chaos Emeralds began to circle them. Before the charging process began, Amber tensed up, entering her Super form in a small golden burst.

She looked at her husband. "You ready?"

Knuckles nodded and was about to close his eyes when he felt a hand on his shoulder. Turning around, he spotted none other than the badly beaten Sonic, who smiled cockily. "You weren't planning on starting without me, were ya?"

Knuckles smiled as he helped the hedgehog stand up straight. "Of course not."

Sonic gave him a thumbs up as he entered his Super form as well. It was blinking slightly, going back to blue occasionally, since most of his power had been depleted by the fact he held the form so long.

All three closed their eyes as the emeralds started spinning, endowing their powers upon the ones who used them. All the color began to drain from the emeralds as the glow the heroes were giving off got stronger and stronger.

Then, with a flash of white light, all three transformed.

Amber's fur burst to a heavy violet as she floated off the ground, her quills stood on end more than they had before.

Knuckles fur erupted to a milky white and pink as he also lifted off the ground, energy sparks dancing across his body.

Sonic's fur underwent the same change as Knuckles', bringing forth the same color and the same dance of energy sparks.

The emeralds dropped to the ground with multiple thuds as all three opened their eyes in unison. Amber's were a navy blue, Knuckles' were a light violet, and Sonic's were bloody red.

The three landed on the ground, their eyes fixed on the pile of rubble containing their new enemy, the one that had the power to destroy the world, the one they once called ally…Shadow.

Suddenly, with a loud boom, the rubble was sent flying high into the air. Out of the dust, the transformed Shadow walked out, dusting off his fur slightly. He raised his head to be greeted by Chaos Amber, Hyper Knuckles, and Hyper Sonic, all ready to engage in combat.

_The males are minor…_

_Kill the female._

_Her strength rivals yours!_

Shadow smiled devilishly as he clenched his fists at his sides, bringing forth a giant flame of energy. His quills wavered violently, occasionally hitting his face. The hedgehog however, paid no attention to the minor inconvenience and had his gaze set dead on the opposing heroes.

_You shall reign supreme!_

_Kill them all!_

"So you all wish to fight?" He questioned, closing his eyes for a moment. They snapped open again as the flame of energy around him followed suite, bursting to a larger size. "Very well then, welcome to your doom!"

And with those evil words, backed up by eviler intensions, Shadow charged for the heroes.


	14. Three Heroes, One Enemy

Author's Note- Due to another question, let me explain right now that since Amber was based off Tikal, who was pure good, Amber does not have a "bad" form. Since Shadow is based off Black Doom, he does have an evil form as well as Eclipse, who was based off Chaos. Chaos was only partially good while Shadow's part that wasn't based off Black Doom was good, therefor enabling them the Mega form.

Chapter 14

The black flame of energy surrounding Shadow momentarily disappeared as all three heroes got into defensive stances. With one quick look, Shadow averted from his straight path towards his sister and went for Sonic instead.

The hero was ready however, as he dodged a straight punch from the Chaos creature. Shadow drew his fist back and ducked as a spiked fist hurled over him. Reeling back his left elbow, Shadow delivered a devastating blow to Knuckles' stomach.

The echidna reeled in pain for a moment but soon retaliated, firing a Thunder Arrow at Shadow. The hedgehog caught the sight of the attack just in time as he warped away in a black flash of light, reappearing behind Chaos Amber.

He smiled sinisterly as he reeled back his right fist for a clean hit to the back of the head. Swinging it, Amber noticed the attack from her brother and turned around at lighting fast speeds, catching his arm.

Shadow growled as a he charged up an attack in his free hand. "Dark Chaos Spear!" Shadow shouted as he released his attack. Before it impacted however, Amber warped to safety, reappearing above Shadow, firing a Chaos Arrow.

Shadow's eyes widened slightly as he looked up and was hit with full force by the attack, sending him to the ground. Knuckles took the opportunity and jumped at least twenty feet in the air. Then, coming down, he put his right fist in front of him.

With a giant crash, Knuckles' fist made impact with Shadow's chest, creating two large bloody holes in his ivory fur. Shadow's eyes snapped open wide as he directed his hateful glare at the one who had just delivered the attack.

Reaching up, Shadow removed the fist and hurled Knuckles into the air. Shadow jumped back up and kicked off the ground, following the red warrior. Smiling deviously, Shadow drew back his fist, attempting to deliver a life-ending punch straight to the back of Knuckles' head.

When he was within two inches of the echidna, another voice echoed through the air. "Hyper Blast!"

Shadow looked to his side just in time to see a large pink and white energy beam shot at him. The dark hedgehog's eyes widened in surprise as he was hit with the attack, sending him flying across the sky on a horizontal basis.

Knuckles began falling back down when a familiar hedgehog caught him. Knuckles looked up, his vision slightly blurry, to see Sonic holding him up by the shoulder. The red echidna smiled slightly. "Thanks Sonic."

Sonic smiled back at him. "No problem."

100 Yards Away

Shadow growled as the blast disappeared and he recovered, coming back to a vertical basis. "That insolent hedgehog, he will be first to shake hands with the devil!"

_No…_

_Destroy the female first!_

Shadow snapped in aggravation. "I do what I want to!"

And with a burst pf speed, Shadow flew back to the source of the attack.

Sonic looked up when he heard a loud whoosh. The hedgehog's smile disappeared as he let go of Knuckles. The echidna straightened up and also stared at his opposition.

"Shadow…" Sonic spoke. "Why are you doing this?"

Shadow grinned evilly. "It is my destiny hedgehog."

"But what about Maria?" Knuckles cut in.

Shadow looked at the echidna in disgust. "This would be what she wanted. The only way to bring peace to humanity is to destroy it!"

Sonic shook his head. "You're wrong Shadow!"

Shadow's face light up in rage. "How do you know?"

"Because I was there." Another voice said.

Shadow looked to his left to see Amber floating there, a stern look upon her face. "I was there when Maria made that wish Shadow, and you're completely ignoring it!"

_She lies…_

_Do not believe her…_

_Kill her!_

Shadow glared at his sister. "You know nothing!"

Shadow's energy flame returned again as he charged for Amber. The female got into a fighting stance. As Shadow neared, a faint glow became visible in her right hand. When Shadow was within grabbing distance, Amber smiled and launched her attack.

"Chaos Beam!"

Shadow's face remained neutral as he easily warped out of the way of the attack, reappearing behind Amber.

"Super Sonic Wind!"

Shadow looked over his shoulder in time to see a golden gust of energy being launched at him. Shadow smirked as he warped out of the way. The attack continued on and hit the surprised Amber instead, scorching her clothes. Amber let out a shriek of pain. It didn't last long though, as Shadow reappeared and struck her straight in the back with his knee, sending her plummeting to the ground.

"DAMN!" Sonic yelled before charging at Shadow, along with the now infuriated Knuckles.

Shadow turned in time as the heroes started delivering lighting fast strikes. Shadow smiled as he dodged and blocked them all, all the while returning a few blows of his own. Multiple booms echoed through the air as the three engaged in lighting fast combat.

Ground

Amber front flipped her body as she landed on the ground with a loud explosion of sound, shaking the metal carcasses around her a little. She looked to her side and spotted a pink dot cradling a white one. Knowing they were well, Amber redirected her attention back to the sky and shot off the ground.

Sky

Sonic and Knuckles were still trying frantically to deliver blow after blow onto the dark hedgehog. With great ease, which seemed to almost mock the heroes, Shadow continued to dodge them.

That is, until another warrior joined the fray. Amber got straight behind Shadow and started delivering multiple punches and kicks. Caught of guard, Shadow made a mistake by averting his attention towards Amber. Sonic and Knuckles took the opportunity and started striking at his body lighting fast.

Shadow was too overwhelmed and caught in the sea of attack.

Through the punched and kicks, Shadow's anger began to rise. It kept growing and growing until his body began to glow a hellish unnatural black. Suddenly, all the punches and kicks seemed to have zero affect on the dark hedgehog as the heroes eyes all widened.

With a devilish smirk, Shadow released one of his most powerful attacks. "Dark Chaos Blast!"

The three heroes were knocked back by the force of the attack and were sent hurtling towards the ground. The black blast consumed almost the entire sky and made it look like a total eclipse of the sun was at hand.

It cleared after a few seconds and showed the hedgehog that had released it. Smoke slowly rose from his fur from the heat of the attack as he looked down upon the heroes, who were all laying face first in the dirt, multiple burn and blood marks across their bodies.

With a wicked grin, Shadow shot towards the ground, landing almost gracefully on his feet. He looked towards the fallen heroes to see all of them had been downgraded to their Super forms, minus Knuckles, who was still Hyper.

Shadow smirked as he pointed his hand at the three, a dark light emitting from it. Before he could launch the attack however, another voice boomed through the air. "Pink Tornado!"

A light pink gust of energy hit Shadow in the back. The dark light in his hand disappeared as he turned around, totally unaffected. Standing before him was a small pink hedgehog.

Shadow glared at her. Her knees were shaking slightly; obviously she did not plan on confronting him. Shadow huffed and turned back to the fallen ones. "Go home girl, I have no interest in you."

Amy gathered some courage to speak. "No." She whispered.

Shadow turned back around, his ebony eyes burning a hole straight through Amy. "What did you say?"

Amy's fear left her as her emerald eyes ignited in anger. "I said no Shadow!"

Shadow turned his full attention to her and took a step forward. "Would you mind repeating that?"

"I said NO" Amy yelled.

Shadow seemed a little take back by her sudden outburst but soon regained his fiery look. "Very well," He said gathering some energy. "Then you'll just have to be eliminated."

"Over my dead body!"

Shadow turned around slightly just to be hit in the face by a rather powerful fist. The hedgehog stumbled back but regained composure, growling when he saw Super Sonic before him.

Shadow smirked. "So, back for more?"

Sonic tensed his body up, returning his fur back to a pinkish white. "This fight is way from over."

Sonic shot off the ground in the blink of an eye. Shadow continued to smirk as he followed suite, heading towards the hedgehog as well. With a burst of energy, both hedgehogs met with their elbows intertwined.

Shadow was a little surprised that Sonic, in his Hyper form, managed to stay the same league as him. Shadow pushed the thought out of his twisted mind as he pushed Sonic away, stumbling the blue blur a little.

And a little was all Shadow needed to charge up a vicious attack. Both of his fists began to glow a ferocious black. Sonic's eyes widened at the sight but before Shadow could assault him, Hyper Knuckles and the now re-transformed Chaos Amber jumped to his side.

Shadow's smirk grew as he spoke in his unnatural tone. "Hmph, three birds with one stone."

With speeds too fast for even Sonic or Amber to catch, Shadow darted forward and started pounding his powered up fists against each hero. Caught it the assault and unable to catch a breather, the heroes were left helpless at the Chaos hedgehog's wrath.

Blood began oozing out of multiple places as black and purple bruises began showing themselves on the bodies of the heroes.

With a confident smirk, Shadow jumped back and shot the two orbs at Amber and Knuckles, knocking them to the ground and causing them to lose their forms. As soon as their bodies hit the ground, Shadow dashed forward and grabbed Sonic by the neck, lifting him up into the air.

"And for you…" He said sinisterly. "I've got something special."

Sonic managed to look down slightly as a faint black light shone from his stomach area. Shadow had his hand pressed firmly against Sonic's abdomen as the light grew between his fingers.

"Dark Chaos Nightmare!" Shadow whispered as a giant black energy orb hit Sonic at point blank range, knocking him to the ground and back to his regular form.

"Hmph, that was all these pathetic fools had to offer?" Shadow questioned to himself.

_Yesssss…_

_You are all powerful…_

_No one can challenge you!_

Shadow smirked in triumph when a voice shouting through the air distracted him. "Black Wave!"

A small black gust of energy hit the Chaos hedgehog straight in the back. Shadow stood completely still for a second before turning around towards the source of the attack. Standing before him was that annoying white bat, tears streaking her delicate face.

Shadow scoffed. "I do not have the time or patience to play with you, leave."

Rouge managed to glare through the mask of sadness she was wearing. "I don't know who you are, but I know you aren't Shadow!"

Shadow laughed evilly. "What do you mean? Standing before you is the ultimate life form, I am Shadow!"

Rouge shook her head. "No, the Shadow I know wouldn't hurt me, or anyone else!"

Shadow laughed again. "The Shadow you knew is gone; this is the new and improved Shadow!"

"Shadow please!" Rouge begged. "I know you're in there!"

Shadow's eyes seemed to soften for a moment. "Rouge?"

Rouge smiled, thinking he could get through to him at last. "Yes Shadow, it's me!"

_No…_

_She lies…_

Shadow shook his head slightly. "No, she wouldn't lie to me." He whispered.

_She lies…_

_She wants to destroy you…_

_Kill her._

Shadow's soft eyes flared up again. No!"

_Kill her!_

"No!" Shadow repeated.

_Then make sure she does not interfere!_

Shadow nodded slightly. "Yes, she must not interfere."

"Shadow?" Rouge questioned, expecting to meet his warm ruby eyes again. She shrieked slightly when his head shot up, revealing those evil ebony eyes, ones which broke her heart.

"You have interfered for the last time!" Shadow bellowed before kicking off the ground and charging for the thing the old Shadow cherished most, sinister intensions in mind.


	15. Sonic Ascends

Chapter 15

Shadow drew closer and closer, while releasing a hellish scream of pleasure. Rouge, up to now too shocked to do anything, tensed her body up and awaited the attack. When the hedgehog was within kissing distance, Rouge swiftly delivered a round house to his face.

Shadow immediately stopped, hovering in mid air, with his face lifted up from the attack. Rouge remained in her battle stance. Suddenly, Shadow's face snapped back in her direction as he grabbed her by the arm.

Rouge shrieked as Shadow's grip tightened, his eyes a blaze. "How dare you hit me you little wench?"

Rouge was mentally shocked at what he had just called her, but remained hard faced on the outside. "Well, since you're not the old Shadow, not MY Shadow, I'm entitled to kick your ass!"

Shadow smiled wickedly. "Oh really?"

Rogue was about to respond when a black light below her face caught her attention. Looking down, she saw a huge Dark Chaos Spear right in front of her stomach. "Welcome to your demise!" Shadow whispered.

He was about to launch when suddenly, he jerked his arm away from Rouge and fired the attack into the air. Rouge's eyes widened as she dropped to the ground. Shadow held his head as he let out a scream of agony.

Rouge cautiously crawled over to him. "Shadow?" She asked.

The dark hedgehog suddenly looked up, tears welling in his eyes. "I can't…" He whispered.

"You can't what?" Rouge asked.

"I…I can't….hurt you." Shadow answered.

_Kill Her!_

Shadow shook his head. "No!"

Rouge was beginning to believe that the old Shadow was still behind this "Chaos" form of his. "Shadow?" She asked, scooting closer to him.

Shadow's head snapped up, but this time they were not full of tears, they were full of hate. Swiftly, the dark hedgehog stood up, hovering over the bat. Rogue looked at him worriedly before the hedgehog turned around dashed off, towards the others.

With Sonic

Sonic barely pushed himself off the ground when a coiled fist collided with his stomach. The blue hero's eyes widened as spit flew out of his mouth. Shadow smirked darkly and lifted him up by his neck, bringing him to an eye level.

"Now," Shadow said, evil present in his voice. "I believe you have someone to meet!"

Sonic gritted his teeth out of pain as he managed to open one eye. "Shadow, please!"

Shadow laughed. "Do not seek for sympathy hedgehog, for you shall receive none!"

Shadow reeled back his fist, storing enough strength in it to knock Sonic's head off when another fist collided with his face. Too shocked to react, Shadow released his grip on Sonic instinctively and flew back into a pile of rubble.

Before the blue hedgehog fell, two arms wrapped themselves securely around him. Sonic looked up and smiled when he saw Super Amber.

Amber slowly put Sonic to the ground. "Don't worry, regain your strength, I'll keep him busy."

Sonic smiled weakly as Amber stood back up, facing the pile of metallic garbage her brother was under.

With a loud explosion, the metal was sent flying into the air, coming down in multiple places on the now dubbed battle ground. Standing there was a furious Shadow. Through fiery black eyes, the hedgehog spoke, almost unable to find words describing his hate. "You! You have meddled in my affairs long enough!"

Amber scoffed, a golden energy surrounding her. "What affairs would that be, hurting the innocent?"

Shadow stepped forward. "These creatures are anything but innocent!"

Amber shook her head, almost feeling sad for him. "You have no idea what you're talking about!"

Shadow's eyes were set a blaze by that last remark. "I know exactly what I'm talking about!"

And with those angry words, Shadow kicked off towards Amber.

The golden hedgehog got into a fighting stance. She knew she was totally out-classed, with her in her Super form and him in the Chaos form. But she would have to try.

Shadow tried coming at her with a basic right hook. The female managed to dodge and planted a fist of her own on her brother's face. Shadow's head lashed back slightly but he soon regained his offensive.

With an angry growl, the dark one lashed out at Amber with multiple kicks and punches, all too fast for Amber to spot. The female took every hit, sending her to the ground. She was about to get up when a metallic boot planted itself on her stomach, restraining her from moving.

She looked up through narrowed eyes to see Shadow pointing a Dark Chaos Spear right at her face. The Chaos hedgehog smirked. "Goodbye Amber."

With Sonic

Blood slowly ran down the blue hedgehog's face as his vision began to become blurry. How ironic, after all that he had overcome, after all those he had defeated, he would be brought down by his ally.

Sonic was about to close his eyes when he felt a pair of warm arms wrap themselves around his neck, lifting him up to be on the lap of the person. Sonic managed to look up. There, with tears in her eyes, was none other than Amy Rose.

Sonic smiled slightly at her. "Thanks Amy."

Amy managed to smile through the tear stricken face she was wearing. "Please don't worry about it Sonic."

"Yeah," Another voice added in. "We have more pressing matters at hand."

Sonic looked up to see Knuckles standing there, multiple injuries dotting his body, with his arms crossed.

"I know, but the Hyper form just won't cut it." Sonic replied.

Knuckles looked back down at him. "That's why you'll have to ascend."

Sonic's eyes widened slightly. "Ascend, into what?"

"The Ultra form," Another voice added.

Sonic looked towards the source of the voice to see Rouge standing there, smiling warmly. "Do you remember when Shadow fought Eclipse but ran out of power?" She questioned.

Sonic nodded slightly. "Yeah, we transferred our"- Sonic cut himself off. He knew what the others planned to do; give them their Chaos powers!

Sonic looked at Knuckles unsurely. "Are you sure."

Knuckles nodded. "Positive!"

Sonic smiled as he stood up slowly, with the help pf Amy. "Alright, let's do it!"

Knuckles and Rouge, along with Amy, all put their hands on the blue hero's shoulder as a blue light began radiating from them.

With Amber

The Dark Chaos Spear was seconds away from impact when amber managed to warp out of Shadow's grasp and his line of fire. Shadow growled as the attack erupted at his feet, creating a small crater.

Amber reappeared behind Shadow and delivered a swift kick to the side of the arm. Shadow winced slightly as he turned around only to meet with another kick right to the face. Shadow's head snapped back as he warped away, reappearing above Amber.

With a battle cry, Shadow dove towards the female, extending his elbow in front of him to deliver a strike to the head. Amber managed to look up in time and side stepped, avoiding the attack.

Before Shadow could come out of his striking position, Amber delivered a powerful straight kick right to his stomach, sending the up-side-down hedgehog into the cold ground. Amber didn't stop there as she reeled back her hand, gathering some Chaos energy in it.

Shadow pushed himself off the ground and turned to face Amber, only to see her release her attack. "Chaos Beam!"

A light yellow beam of pure energy shot from her outstretched hand and towards the demented hedgehog. Shadow's wide eyes turned into slits as he smirked. With the raise of his right hand, the hedgehog swatted the attack into the sky above.

Amber's weary eyes widened as Shadow laughed in twisted amusement. "Why so shocked? Did you really think you could fight on level with me while in that pathetic form?

'You have got to be kidding me!' Amber screamed in her mind.

Shadow laughed again. "Well, it's been fun sister, but I'm afraid this is where it ends!"

And with those words said, Shadow charged for the already worn out Amber.

With Sonic

The blue hedgehog began to feel his wounds being healed as more and more power was being transferred to his body. By now, his fur had regained its luscious blue shin and he was on the edge of retaining his Super form.

Rouge, Amy, and Knuckles began to grow tired already, especially Amy since she didn't have all too much Chaos powers within her. Rouge and Knuckles however, kept transferring their energies until Sonic's fur burst to a beautiful gold.

Sonic smiled through the waves of energy he was emitting. "That's it guys, keep going."

The glow of Amy finally faded away as she collapsed to the ground, totally exhausted. Sonic cast her a worried glance but relaxed when he saw she was sleeping peacefully. The energy from Knuckles and Rouge gave a sudden burst as Sonic's fur burst to a pinkish white.

With Amber

Shadow stopped in mid-charge as his eyes widened. "That energy…"

Amber, through crossed arms, gazed out towards her brother to see him staring off to his right. With a growl, the dark hedgehog charged towards the energy he was feeling.

With Sonic

The energy from Knuckles also began to fade as he collapsed to the floor. All the Chaos powers he had used already didn't leave him too much to give to his companion. Rouge closed her eyes in concentration. Who knew she had this much power!

Sonic's fur began to blink to a light red every now and then as the blue energy Rouge was transferring turned into a bloody red colored energy. Sonic smiled. "Yes, just a little more."

Suddenly, a strong gust of air disturbed the power up ritual. Rogue and Sonic both managed to look to their left to see a furious Chaos Shadow hovering there. Through clenched teeth, he spoke. "How dare you! How dare you try and over power me!"

Shadow clenched his fist and was about to charge at them when a yellow figure rammed into him, sending him into a pile of metallic waste. Amber breathed heavily as her Super form disappeared, collapsing from exhaustion soon after.

Rouge's eyes widened slightly at the sight but she remained concentrated on the task at hand. With another final burst of energy, Rogue collapsed on the ground, passing out.

And in that very second, it happened.

Sonic's fur burst to a fierce fiery red as he levitated off the ground. A red hot energy was surrounding him, resembling a flame. Multiple blue energy sparks danced across his body. The hedgehog opened his eyes, revealing them to be a cool blue color.

Suddenly, the mountain of metal Shadow was under erupted as the dark hedgehog jumped out, his face twisted in hate. It soon disappeared when he laid eyes upon the transformed Sonic.

_His powers rival yours…_

_Kill him…_

_Kill him now!_

Shadow tightened his fists as a dark energy flame surrounding his body, along with black energy sparks. The hedgehog smiled unnaturally. "Well hedgehog, looks like you have evened the odds a little, although you're still not on the same level as I am!"

Sonic scoffed before smiling cockily. "We'll see about that Shadow."

Shadow got into a fighting stance. "Indeed we will."


	16. Battle of Hearts Part 1

Chapter 16

Shadow kicked off the ground in a burst of black light as Sonic followed suite, leaving a fiery red trail of energy behind. Both clashed with their elbows in a huge explosion, intertwining both black and red energy. Immediately after, they both warped at the exact same time, reappearing twenty feet in the air.

Shadow reeled back from Sonic and went for a snap kick with his left leg. The Ultra hedgehog blocked it with the back of his arm and delivered a hard right fist right to Shadow's stomach. The dark hedgehog lurched forward a little but regained his composure, throwing a fist of his own at Sonic.

The hero managed to warp to safety, reappearing behind Shadow. Reeling his left fist back, Sonic attempted to deliver another blow to Shadow's back. The dark hedgehog caught onto his plan however, and warped out of the way, reappearing above Sonic, with a dark ball of energy in hand.

"Dark Chaos Spear!" Shadow bellowed as he launched the attack at the hero. Sonic's eyes widened slightly as the attack impacted, knocking the hedgehog back to the ground and creating a small crater.

Shadow smirked and charged downward for the hedgehog, reeling his right fist back. Before impact however, Sonic managed to barely roll out of the way. Shadow continued on and punched the ground, his fist becoming stuck in the solid rock.

Sonic took the opportunity and put his right arm to the ground, performing a horizontal 180 and kicking Shadow right in the face. Shadow's fist was freed as he hurtled to the ground. The dark hedgehog was back up in a flash and charged for Sonic again.

Sonic got into a defensive stance when suddenly, Shadow disappeared. Sonic looked around slightly before Shadow reappeared behind him and delivered a swift open hand chop to the back of his neck.

Sonic's blue eyes widened as he took a knee from the attack. Shadow smirked as he grabbed Sonic by the neck and threw him into the air. Then, warping away in a black flash of light, Shadow reappeared ten feet away from the still airborne Sonic.

He clenched his fists as he became nothing more than what looked like a black flame. Then, he charged for Sonic. The flame seemed to go straight through the hero as he yelled out in pain. The flame reeled around and charged again, doing the same.

The flame Shadow occupied kept on the onslaught, continuingly darted against Sonic, making multiple gashes appear on his body. After five charges, the flame finally stopped and withered away, Shadow taking its place.

A second passed before Sonic began falling to the ground. With an evil smile, Shadow darted upward before charging downwards to the already falling Sonic. With a loud crash, the hedgehog made impact with his elbow, sending Sonic into the rocky ground at incredible speed.

Rocks seemed to be pushed aside like mere butter as Sonic landed, creating a huge rocky crater. Shadow landed on the ground beside the rocky hole and smiled darkly down at Sonic.

With a wave of his gloved hand, the Chaos hedgehog summoned a Dark Chaos Spear, launching it at Sonic. The fiery red hedgehog still did not show any signs of movement as the attack made impact with a bright flash of light.

It cleared to reveal the battered Ultra Sonic even deeper in the crater. His body seemed fused with the rocks since part of his body was under them and part was over them. With a half hearted jump, Shadow gracefully landed in the crater, hovering over the fallen hero.

"Hmph, I thought you'd be a challenge." He said with a hint of disappointment in his voice.

Sonic opened his right eye half way and wearily stared at the hedgehog. "You think it's over, don't you?"

Shadow chuckled. "No, I know it's over!"

Sonic smiled as he opened his other eye. "Well, then you're not as smart as I thought!"

Shadow's eyes widened slightly as a fiery red glow came from Sonic's hands. In a flash, the hero pointed them at Shadow and released his attack. "Chaos Wave!"

A bright red wave of Chaos energy was summoned from the hero's hands and hit Shadow directly in the stomach, sending him flying out of the crater. Shadow grimaced as the heat of the attack began to singe his recovered fur.

With a growl, the hedgehog warped away, letting the attack pass over him as he reappeared in the same spot. Suddenly, a loud crash echoed through the air. Shadow directed his ebony eyes down to see Sonic burst out of the rock and charge at him.

The red hedgehog impacted with Shadow, driving his elbow into the dark hedgehog's stomach. Shadow wheezed in pain as Sonic jumped back and delivered a round house kick right to Shadow's face, sending him flying off.

With a burst of air, Sonic charged forward towards Shadow. The dark one barely managed to look up when Sonic planted a full body kick in his face. Shadow was sent flying off faster than before but recovered by flipping his body over.

With a growl of aggravation, Shadow summoned his signature move. "Chaos Control!"

The dark hedgehog disappeared in a black flash of light. Sonic clenched his fists and also summoned upon the mystical Chaos powers he had. "Chaos Control!"

The world seemed a strange violet as everything seemed to bend unnaturally, like clay. Both bodies of the hedgehogs also looked a strange violet, but they moved fast and more fluently than the world around them.

With speed rivaling that of light, Shadow charged forward and engaged in combat with the blue opponent, throwing lighting fast punches and kicks. Sonic blocked and dodged some, but also got hit by some as he followed suite, their bodies looking like mere lines.

The lighting fast combat went on for a few minutes before Sonic retreated, sending a Hyper Blast at Shadow. The dark hedgehog managed to dart out of the way of the attack and retaliated with a Dark Chaos Nightmare.

The attack hit Sonic straight on and sent him flying out of the Chaos Control realm. Shadow followed suite, also coming out of Chaos Control and delivered a swift kick to Sonic's right arm, bending it slightly.

Sonic grimaced in pain but retaliated with a fist of his own right to Shadow's head. Shadow growled as his hands began to glow a dark hellish black. "Dark Chaos Fury!" Shadow shouted as he began pummeling away at Sonic, beating him to a bloody pulp.

Shadow retreated and fired the two orbs at Sonic, creating a cloud of smoke. It cleared as Shadow charged again, elbowing Sonic in the stomach, and causing him to grimace in pain.

Shadow retreated slightly and charged up an attack in his hand. "Dark Chaos Nightmare!" He shouted as he released the attack.

The weary Sonic barely dodged the attack, grazing his fur a little. Shadow took advantage of the moment and charged for Sonic, delivering a powerful punch to his gut. Sonic doubled over in pain as Shadow raised his right foot and smashed it against Sonic's chin, sending him flying upwards.

With a smirk, Shadow followed until he came above the hedgehog. Putting both of his hands together, Shadow raised them above his head and waited for Sonic to draw near. When the hedgehog was within range, Shadow brought his combined fists down upon Sonic's back.

Blue irises shrunk as Sonic let out a silent scream of pain. Then, with a burst of air, he was sent rocketing down at incredible speeds. Mimicking a set of lines on paper, Shadow also disappeared, reappearing right beside the falling Sonic.

Shadow smirked as he grabbed Sonic's wrist and started whirling him around and around, turning the two into a black and red tornado. Then, with a loud battle cry, Shadow released Sonic, throwing him down to the earth below.

The hedgehog made impact, bringing forth a huge cloud of smoke. The wind washed the particles of smoke away to reveal a huge crater, with the motionless Sonic at the bottom of it.

Shadow's smirk grew as Sonic began to stir. The hedgehog wearily pushed himself up using his elbows and stared at Shadow. In a flash of red light, Sonic disappeared, reappearing in front of Shadow.

"So," Shadow said. "Back for more?"

Sonic grinned. "Amber was right; you really do sound like Eclipse!"

Shadow's eyes burst to flames at that last statement. "How dare you! I am ten times stronger and faster than him!"

"Oh yeah," Sonic said, wearing a smirk. "Then why don't you prove it?"

Shadow got into a fighting stance. "Gladly."

Kicking off the ground, Shadow charged for Sonic, who took a defensive stance. Shadow came at Sonic with a punch, one which Sonic easily dodged by moving his head. Sonic retaliated with an attempted knee to the gut. Shadow was too fast however, as he caught it with his hands.

Sonic growled and used his right arm as a pivot to kick Shadow in the face with his free leg. The dark hedgehog stumbled back slightly but soon retaliated, firing a Dark Chaos Spear at Sonic.

Sonic was prepared however, and shot an attack of his own to counter it. "Super Sonic Wind!"

A bright red gust of energy was released form Sonic's hand and negated the attack. A cloud of smoke rose, one which the hedgehogs both charged through. Shadow came at Sonic with a snap kick, one which the hero easily blocked by catching his foot.

Shadow's eyes widened as Sonic smirked. Tossing the dark hedgehog into the air, Sonic delivered a devastating kick to his back. Shadow's eyes widened out of pain as he flew high into the sky, with Sonic following him.

When Shadow reached the farthest point his body would go by itself, the hedgehog slowly began to plummet back down to the ground. That is, if Sonic wouldn't have been there. With Shadow's body horizontal and his vertical, Sonic back flipped and came down upon Shadow's chest with his foot, sending Shadow flying into the ground at incredible velocity.

The dark hedgehog now lay in a large crater, with his ebony eyes sealed shut. Sonic landed next to the crater with a thud and looked upon the hedgehog.

The very next second, Shadow's eyes snapped open as he disappeared in a flash of black light. Sonic turned around to see his counter part standing there with his arms crossed and a huge smirk on his face.

"Well," He began. "It seems I have to step it up a notch."

Sonic smirked, getting into a battle stance. "Whatever you got, bring it on!"

Shadow's smirk disappeared as a black flame of energy surrounded him. "As you wish."


	17. Battle of Hearts Part 2

Chapter 17

Shadow kicked off the ground at incredible speed and charged for Sonic. The fiery red hedgehog managed to block a tackle from the dark one just in time by rolling out of the way. Sonic retaliated with a strong snap kick to Shadow's side. The dark hedgehog grimaced in pain slightly but recovered with a punch to the head of the hero.

Sonic was momentarily paralyzed and Shadow used the opportunity to deliver a round house kick to his face. Sonic skidded on the ground before cart-wheeling and regaining his footing. Shadow charged again, with his fist outstretched towards the blue speedster.

Sonic blocked the fist with his hand and charged up a red ball of energy in his other hand, pointing it right at Shadow's exposed arm. "Hyper Blast!" The hero bellowed as the attack was released and hit Shadow's arm dead-on.

The dark hedgehog grimaced in pain as the attack created a huge black and red flesh wound on his shoulder, also burning the fur. Sonic took the opportunity at hand and rammed into the already injured shoulder, earning a yell of pain from Shadow and sending him into a metallic wall.

The wall crumbled under the pressure and buried the Chaos hedgehog. Sonic landed in front of the pile of metal and drew his right hand over his chest in a "/" position, as if he was about to use his hand as a sword and cut someone in half.

The pile of metal suddenly exploded as Shadow darted out of it and towards the Ultra hedgehog. Sonic was prepared however, and released his attack. "Chaos Wave!"

A bright red wave of energy shot from his hand and hit Shadow right in the face, knocking him to the ground in a loud crash. Sonic lowered his hand and charged for the cloud of dust. Suddenly, and too fast for Sonic to catch, a ball of black Chaos energy was shot from the cloud, hitting him head on and sending him crashing into a metal dome, burying him.

Shadow stepped out of the cloud wearing a smirk on his face. With a bend of the knees, he shot up into the sky and stopped, aiming both his hands at the dome Sonic was under. A bright black energy began to come to life within his curled hands.

The dome suddenly burst to flame as Sonic darted out and towards Shadow. He realized too late that it was a trap…

"Dark Chaos Barrage!" Shadow shouted as hundreds of black energy blasts were sent hurtling at Sonic.

The blue hedgehog did not have time to stop or dodge and was hit head-on, pushing him back into the ground below. Shadow laughed maniacally as he continued the assault. By now, the red hedgehog was buried beneath the boulders and rocks with the blasts still pushing him down further.

Finally, the onslaught ceased as Shadow drew both of his hands back and summoned two abnormally large balls of energy within them. With a horrific laughter for the lust of the kill, Shadow launched both orbs at the fallen Sonic, pushing him beneath the rocks below, completely out of sight.

Shadow smirked confidently as he softly landed on the ground. With an "Hmph" the hedgehog turned his back to the giant crater and walked in the direction of the others.

With the Others

Rouge, Amy, and Knuckles were still unconscious but Amber was up again and spotted the Chaos creature that was drawing near. Frantically, she ran over to Knuckles and began shaking him. "Knuckles, Knuckles, please wake up!"

The echidna did not respond, but only continued to breathe softly. "Knuckles, Knuckles, wake u"- Amber cut herself off when she heard footsteps behind her.

The female jumped up and turned around only to stare into the hateful eyes of Shadow. Amber backed up slightly as Shadow smirked.

"What's the matter?" He asked mockingly. "Aren't you glad to see your brother?"

Amber stopped backing up as her eyes ignited in anger. "You," She said venomously. "Are NOT my brother!"

Shadow looked down, examining his body, and looked back up. "From what I can tell, I am!"

Amber shook her head. "No, my brother would never harm the innocent!"

Shadow shook his head playfully. "Too bad."

Amber growled and charged at her brother, drawing her right fist back when suddenly, a dirty gloved hand on her arm stopped her. Shadow and Amber both looked to the side to the see the bloody and beat-up Sonic standing there with one eye open, breathing heavily.

The fiery hedgehog smiled at Amber and released her arm. "Sorry Amber, but this is my fight!"

Amber nodded and backed up as Sonic turned to Shadow. "I'm not defeated yet!"

Shadow smiled darkly. "You might as well be, your energy decreases with every blow."

Sonic smirked. "Well then, why don't you finish it?"

Shadow curled his hands into fists. "I intend to." He whispered.

Shadow and Sonic both charged at the exact same second, both planting their fists right in each other's faces. Then, in perfect unison, they both jumped back and fired a small energy blast, negating each other out.

Shadow darted upward into the sky with Sonic in close pursuit. Before Shadow could stop or look down, Sonic planted his elbow right against his cheek. A sickening crack echoed though the air as Shadow's head fell back along with his body.

Sonic didn't stop there though and reeled back his leg, snapping it across Shadow's jaw and receiving another loud crack. Sonic warped back slightly and charged again, ramming into the injured shoulder and earning a gasp of pain out of Shadow.

Before Sonic could retreat however, Shadow grabbed him by the arm. With a smirk, the hedgehog pulled Sonic towards himself and punched him straight in the stomach. Sonic gasped in pain before Shadow jumped back and delivered a tremendous snap kick to the hero's head, sending him spiraling down to the ground.

Shadow disappeared in a flash of black light as he charged after Sonic. When he was within distance, Shadow extended his hand towards the hero. A black light was summoned as Shadow bellowed the name of the attack.

"Dark Chaos Spear!"

A black blast of energy was sent flying from Shadow's hand and hit Sonic directly in the back, sending him flying down faster than before. Shadow smirked as he disappeared again, reappearing below the quickly dropping hedgehog.

Reeling back his left leg, Shadow charged up power in it and when Sonic was close enough, the dark hedgehog delivered the attack with lethal precision. Sonic's blue eyes basically shrank to the size of peas as he fell over to the ground, completely motionless.

Shadow smiled darkly as he raised his right arm and pointed it at the back of Sonic's head, attempting to finish the fight. A faint black glow turned into a blinding one as Shadow's face was light up, making him seem even more sinister.

"Sayonara, Sonic the Hedgehog."

Shadow suddenly hesitated as those words triggered something deep within his memory.

_Flashback_

_Time seemed to freeze for Shadow as a single bullet was fired from the gun. Maria didn't even have time to scream as the bullet pierced her fragile chest._

_Time sped up again as Maria fell to the ground with a heavy thud. Shadow's eyes widened in anger and frustration. _

"_MAAARIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"_

_With her last bit of strength and will power, Maria raised her head up to face Shadow. "Sayonara, Shadow the Hedgehog._

_And with those final words, her head fell lifelessly to the ground._

_End Flashback_

The blast in Shadow's hand slowly withered away as the memory took its effect on the dark hedgehog. "Maria." He whispered, remembering his dead friend's last words.

_What are you waiting for?_

_Kill him!_

Shadow completely ignored the voice inside his head as his mind continued to race with thoughts. Should he kill the hedgehog? It was within his power, so why was he stopping?

By then, Sonic had regained consciousness and began getting up. He rose to his full height to see the struggling Shadow in front of him. What was happening? Was Shadow coming back to his senses?

Sonic slowly approached the dark hedgehog, taking cautious steps as not to startle him. "Shadow?" He asked, his voice filled with concern.

Suddenly, Shadow's eyes snapped up as he stared at the approaching Sonic, his black irises gleaming with hate. Sonic backed up slightly before Shadow charged forward and planted his fist right into Sonic's stomach.

The cobalt hedgehog wheezed in pain as Shadow retreated his fist. With a dark smile, Shadow summoned upon a Dark Chaos Spear, firing it at Sonic. The red hedgehog caught the sight of the attack just in time and warped away, reappearing at least fifty feet above Shadow.

The dark one didn't even look up as he shot off the ground and towards the hero. Sonic put his arms in a "X" formation as Shadow impacted with his elbow, scooting Sonic back a little. Shadow retreated his arm and tried delivering a punch to Sonic's gut.

The hero was too fast however, and caught Shadow's closed fist. Then, with one swift motion, Sonic turned around and twisted Shadow's arm behind his back. Shadow grimaced in pain slightly as Sonic continued adding pressure to the arm, putting it on the point of breaking.

Shadow's black aura suddenly appeared again as he began to glow a devilish black. Sonic's eyes widened as Shadow released his attack. "Dark Chaos Blast!" He yelled as Sonic was sent flying down to the ground, impacting with a loud crash.

The black sphere of light cleared as Shadow directed his pitch black eyes down towards Sonic. He was still in his Ultra form! Shadow had to admit that he was pretty tough withstanding all those attacks, but he had one more ace up his sleeve, and he would use it when the time was right.

With a burst of air, Shadow darted downward towards the fallen Sonic, drawing his hand back for a Dark Chaos Spear. His hand began to glow black as Shadow drew nearer and nearer. Then, with a loud explosion, Shadow fired the blast at Sonic's chest millimeters away from him.

A huge black dome of light illuminated the area as Sonic's pain-filled scream echoed through the air. It cleared revealing a huge crater. It wasn't deep, maybe ten feet but the radius was at least fifty feet.

Shadow retreated his hand and looked down upon the injured hero. Multiple gashes and wounds dotted his body, his eyes were sealed shut, and his red fur blinked to pink every now and then.

"Hmph."

With a bright black light, Shadow summoned a Dark Chaos Nightmare in his right hand. The evil Chaos hedgehog smirked as he pointed the hand carrying the attack at Sonic.

"Farewell, my admirable adversary."

And with those words, Shadow launched the attack at Sonic's face.


	18. Battle of Hearts Part 3

Chapter 18

The black light of the attack illuminated Sonic's face and was about to make contact when Sonic's eyes suddenly snapped wide open. In a flash of red light, the hero disappeared as the Dark Chaos Nightmare destroyed the spot where he lay.

Shadow turned around slightly to see Sonic standing there, holding his right arm, which was bleeding heavily. Shadow smirked and disappeared in a black flash of light, reappearing behind Sonic. With the raise of his leg, Shadow delivered a powerful snap kick to Sonic's injured arm.

Sonic grimaced in pain slightly before turning around and throwing a punch at Shadow. The dark one easily blocked it with the back of his hand. He could see Sonic's attacks were slowing down. The black hedgehog threw the hand off and delivered a powerful kick right to Sonic's stomach.

The red hedgehog's eyes widened out of pain as Shadow drew his other fist back, connecting it with Sonic's cheek. A crack echoed through the air as Sonic fell to the ground, completely motionless.

Shadow smiled darkly and charged up a Dark Chaos Spear in his right hand, pointing it at Sonic. With a launching sound, mimicking that of a laser gun, Shadow shot the attack straight at Sonic's exposed back.

Before the black blast of energy could connect however, a small yellow blast of energy knocked it away, sending it into the ground and creating a large crater. Shadow looked to the side to see Knuckles standing before him. His body was slightly hunched over, still from exhaustion and he was breathing heavily.

Shadow smirked and turned his entire body to the echidna. Before Knuckles could move a single muscle, Shadow appeared before him in a flash and lifted him up by the neck. Knuckles wheezed as the air began to be cut off. His eyes slowly rolled back in his head as his body became limp.

Shadow smirked and tossed the red warrior to the side. The echidna landed with a heavy thud on the ground, his hands in front of him, and completely motionless. Shadow turned his body back to the spot where Sonic was only to find him gone.

The dark hedgehog looked around slightly before a loud "Hyaaaa" echoed through the air. Shadow looked up only to receive a horizontal chop to the head. The dark hedgehog stumbled slightly as Sonic landed before him.

Not wasting any time, the hero began charging up an attack in his left hand. A bright red ball of energy illuminated the area as waves of color rolled off the ball. Shadow managed to get back up and looked at Sonic, only to see him launch his attack at him.

"Hyper Blast!" Sonic bellowed as a large red beam of energy was fired from his extended hand, hitting Shadow right in the chest and pushing him back across the battle field. Sonic kept on the attack for a moment before he lowered his hand, the beam also disappearing.

There, laying a hundred feet from Sonic was the smoking body of Shadow. Some of his fur had been burned slightly and there were multiple bloody boils across his body. Sonic smirked confidently as he touched back onto the ground.

The hero's smirk disappeared though, as Shadow started moving. "No way!" Sonic screamed in disbelief as the black hedgehog wearily pushed his burned body up and stood to his full height, staring down upon Sonic.

Sonic lifted off the ground again and charged for Shadow, the dark hedgehog following suite. Both connected by the elbows before warping away, reappearing ten feet from one another about fifty feet in the air.

Shadow darted forward and charged for Sonic as the hero took a defensive stance. Shadow collided with his fist against Sonic's crossed arms, creating a huge crashing sound. The dark hedgehog leaped away and charged up a black ball of energy in his hand.

"Dark Chaos Nightmare!" Shadow shouted as he released his attack, sending it straight at Sonic. The hero managed to dodge the attack in time by warping to safety. Sonic reappeared right behind Shadow and before the dark one had a chance to look, kneed him right in the back with colossal force.

Shadow's entire body bent awkwardly as he let out a scream of pain. Sonic took the opportunity and charged up an attack, pointing his hand right at Shadow's exposed back. "Super Sonic Wind!" The hero shouted as he fired a small red gust of energy at Shadow, knocking him down a few feet and scorching his back slightly.

The dark hedgehog turned around with a growl and warped away, reappearing beside Sonic. Raising his hand aver his head, Shadow snapped his hand down upon Sonic's neck in a chopping position.

The blue wonder caught sight of the attack just in time and warped away, reappearing above Shadow. The dark hedgehog looked up as Sonic charged for him. Shadow also shot up as the two hedgehogs engaged in lighting fast combat.

This went on for several minutes before Sonic drew back and fired a small Super Sonic Wind at Shadow. The hedgehog merely swatted the attack away with the back of his hand and charged for Sonic again, delivering a powerful punch to his stomach.

Sonic's eyes shrank as he grabbed his stomach in pain and bent over. Shadow took the opportunity and fired a Dark Chaos Spear right on the top of Sonic's head at point blank range.

Sonic's head snapped back as Shadow darted forward and delivered an open hand chop to his throat. Sonic's eyes widened as he grasped his throat in pain and started making wheezing sounds.

Shadow smirked and jumped back slightly; pointing both his hands at the hedgehog in a bowl type form. "Dark Chaos Nightmare!" Shadow shouted as he released a giant ball of black Chaos energy right at Sonic, who was still holding his throat.

The attack made impact with the hero, sending him flying back. Shadow smirked as he clenched both of his fists, a dark aura surrounding him. Then, in the blink of an eye, the hedgehog's body once again transformed into a huge black flame.

With a burst of air, the flame charged for Sonic, who had yet to recover. The flame seemed to go straight through the hero as he screamed out in pain. The flame reeled around and charged for Sonic again. But this time, he was prepared.

When the flame was millimeters away, Sonic quickly warped to safety, reappearing ten feet away from it. The flame, mimicking a person, turned around and charged for Sonic, who again warped away, this time reappearing ten feet below it.

It reeled back around once again and charged downward towards sonic. Sonic smirked. For sure it would think he would warp again! How wrong it was…

When the flame was within distance, Sonic flung out his arm out and fired a colossal Chaos Wave right at it. The flame did not have time to dodge and was hit head on in a flash of light. It cleared to reveal the flame gone and Shadow in its place.

The dark hedgehog growled as he looked down at the smirking Sonic and charged again. Before Shadow could make impact though, Sonic quickly warped out of the way and reappeared behind him, delivering a swift chop to the back of his neck.

Shadow gasped out of pain slightly as Sonic performed a 180 and kicked Shadow right in the side, sending him spiraling downward. Shadow regained his composure by performing a simple flip to stop the momentum ha had.

Looking up, Shadow charged for Sonic again, glowing a hellish black color. Sonic's eyes widened as Shadow appeared right before him and released his devastating attack. "Dark Chaos Blast!"

A huge wave of spherical black Chaos energy shot from Shadow's body and consumed both hedgehogs. The light cleared to see Shadow still afloat but Sonic plummeting to the ground, completely motionless.

Shadow did not spare him though, as he charged down at incredible velocity, putting his elbow in front of him. With a loud boom, Shadow drove his elbow straight into Sonic's back.

This, of course, awakened the hero as he screamed out in pain. The hedgehog made impact with the ground, creating a huge crater. Shadow smirked as he landed beside the crater and pointed a hand down at the fallen Sonic.

His hand began to gather a small energy orb. "Dark Chaos Spear!" Shadow shouted as he released the attack, firing it at the motionless Sonic.

The attack made impact, creating a huge black dome of energy. Before it cleared, Shadow raised his hand again and summoned on another attack.

"Dark Chaos Barrage!" Shadow bellowed as hundreds of small black chaos blasts flew from his hand. The blats flew into the huge black dome, feeding it and making it at least twice as big as before.

Shadow finally lowered his hand as the light cleared to reveal the crater completely empty. "Hmph, it seems like I have incinerated every last part of him."

The dark hedgehog turned his back to the crater and began to walk away when something burst from the bottom of it. The hedgehog looked over his shoulder to see the still very much alive Ultra Sonic floating there, a red orb of energy in hand and pointing it at him.

"You should learn to aim better!" Sonic shouted as he released his attack.

Shadow simply warped out of the way to avoid it as it crashed into the ground, completely destroying the spot where the dark hedgehog just stood. Shadow reappeared right in front of Sonic and jabbed him in the stomach.

Sonic's eyes widened out of pain as Shadow removed his fist. The dark hedgehog looked at the wheezing enemy in front of him with a look of disgust on his face. "Pathetic." He murmured before charging up a Dark Chaos Fury in his clenched fists.

With a loud battle cry, Shadow darted forward and began pounding against Sonic's chest and face. The hero didn't even have the strength left to try and dodge as he was hit with every single blow.

Shadow laughed maniacally and continued the onslaught until he backed up slightly and fired both orbs at Sonic. The red hedgehog was knocked back by the attack and landed on the ground, lying on his back.

Shadow smirked and charged for him. Faster than any eye could catch, Shadow dug his knee into Sonic's stomach. The hero screamed in pain as the middle of his body was forced down into the rocks slightly.

Shadow only smirked in sick, twisted pleasure and jumped back, aiming his hand straight at Sonic's face. "Dark Chaos Spear!" Shadow shouted as he fired the attack, creating a small black dome of light.

It cleared to reveal to beaten Sonic lying there motionlessly, with his eyes closed. Shadow smirked again and lifted off into the air, attempting for another charge attack. The hedgehog darted down again, his right knee in front of him.

When Shadow was mere inches away, Sonic suddenly snapped his eyes open and rolled out of the way. Shadow's knee dug into the earth as Sonic performed a horizontal 180 and kicked Shadow straight in the face, sending him crashing to the ground.

Sonic darted up and got into a fighting pose as Shadow got back to his feet, his eyes showing anger but also, a hint of disbelief. How could someone in the Ultra form keep up with someone whose power level was equivalent to that of the Mega form?

Shadow shook the thought out of his mind and also got into a fighting stance. Then, with a burst of unnatural black air, Shadow kicked off the ground and charged for Sonic.


	19. Chaos Prevails

Chapter 19

Sonic barely managed to duck out of the way as Shadow's gloved fist swept over head. The hero wasted no time and kicked the dark hedgehog right in the stomach with as much force as he could muster.

Shadow bent over in pain and grasped his stomach as Sonic jumped back and pointed both of his hands at the dark hedgehog. "Hyper Blast!" Sonic shouted as he released a devastating red beam of Chaos energy.

Shadow barely managed to look up before the attack hit him square in the chest and sent him flying back, crashing into a large metallic dome. Sonic dropped to his knees as he lowered his hands, completely exhausted.

One Hundred Feet Away

Emerald green eyes began to slowly flutter open as Rogue regained her consciousness. The bat immediately grasped her head out of pain as she rolled over on her back. With a grunt, the huntress managed to sit up and looked to her surroundings. Amy and Amber were lying right next to her, still unconscious, and Knuckles lay about ten feet away from them, also out cold.

Wearily and slowly, Rouge pushed herself off the ground and stood on her own two feet. She had located Knuckles, Amy, and Amber, but where was Sonic and Shadow?

Her question began answered as a loud voice echoed through the air.

"Hyper Blast!"

Rouge's head snapped to her left to see a red figure a hundred feet away shoot a large red beam at a black figure, sending it into a metallic dome. The red figure then dropped to its knees, obviously in pain.

"Sonic!" She yelled at last, recognizing the person. It was the hero, no doubt, but his fur was fiery red.

'He must have transformed!' Rouge shouted in her mind.

With Sonic

The dome Shadow was buried under exploded in a huge black inferno as Shadow stepped out of the light, a ball of black energy in hand. Sonic looked up in time as the ball was launched at him. The hero managed to dart out of the way of the attack as it collided with the ground, completely annihilating it.

In a flash of light, the dark hedgehog was before Sonic again and delivered a devastating punch right to his face. Sonic hit the ground and landed on his back, his fur flashing between red and gold. Shadow smirked as he stomped on his chest, earning a yell of pain from Sonic.

Shadow's eyes glistened with unnatural satisfaction as he added pressure to Sonic's chest. The red hedgehog's eyes widened as a small spurt of blood erupted from his mouth. Shadow removed his foot and pointed his right hand directly at Sonic.

A faint black light turned into a blinding one as the dark hedgehog gathered energy in his hand. With a malicious smirk, Shadow bellowed out the name of the attack. "Dark Chaos Nightmare!"

The orb of energy was released but just before it made impact with Sonic, a pink blur snatched him away from harm. The attack impacted in a blinding black light as rock crumbled under the force of the blast.

The light cleared to reveal nothing more than a large hole. Shadow looked to his side to see a pink hedgehog standing there, holding up a red one.

The dark one smirked as he turned his full body to them. "How pathetic, a female had to come and save you."

Amy's eyes narrowed as she carefully let Sonic to the ground, all the while with her eyes still on the Chaos hedgehog. "Say what you want Shadow, but friends help you in more ways than you could think."

The dark hedgehog laughed, obviously amused. "Friends? Please, all they serve to be is an obstacle. These "friends" will hold you back."

"You're wrong Shadow!" She yelled.

Suddenly, Shadow appeared right before Amy, causing her to shriek and lose her balance. Shadow caught her by the arm before she could hit the ground and brought her to his eye level. "Really? Would you mind repeating that?" He asked with a smirk, adding pressure to her arm, causing Amy to cry out in pain.

Sonic, still on the ground, heard her cry of pain and completely lost it. With a new found strength, the Ultra hedgehog stood to his full height and stared hatefully at Shadow. "Let. Her. Go!"

Shadow turned his head slightly to acknowledge the hero. "Why should I?" He asked, giving Amy's arm another squeeze and earning another cry of pain.

A dull whit energy surrounded Sonic as his fur flared to a more solid red. Shadow smirked. "Ah, finally on the brink eh? Well then." He said, raising his fist. "Allow me to help!"

And with those words, Shadow lightly jabbed Amy in the stomach, causing her to scream in pain and pass out. Shadow smirked as he heartlessly dropped her to the ground at his feet.

Sonic's eyes widened as they blinked from blue to a solid gold. White energy waves rolled from his body as his quills stood totally on end. Shadow crossed his arms, as if impatient for the event to continue.

Suddenly, with a bright burst of light, Sonic's fur erupted to a beautiful white. The hedgehog floated off the ground slightly as golden energy sparks danced across his body. Then, in the blink of an eye and too fast for even Shadow to catch, Sonic darted forward and delivered a devastating punch to the dark hedgehog's gut.

Shadow's eyes widened in pain as he grasped his stomach, and dropped to his knees. Sonic retreated his fist as his fur blinked back to a middle classed red and his eyes turned back to a cool blue.

Lowering his gaze on Shadow, Sonic walked over to Amy and picked her up bridal style, disappearing in a flash of light.

With Rouge

The beautiful female huntress sat against a small rock, watching over the still unconscious Amber and Knuckles. She had remembered Amy awakening and running off to save Sonic. She had tried to talk her out of it, telling her Shadow would surely kill her.

The rose hedgehog didn't want to listen though as she madly dashed off to save her hero. Rouge had to admit, she admired the girl for her bravery but…she herself was too scared of Shadow to go near him now.

He had knocked her unconscious, told her he didn't need love, and even tried to kill her friends. How could such an evil form reside within such a loving person?

The bat didn't have time to ponder on it as a red flash of light illuminated the area, making Sonic, who was holding Amy, appear.

Rouge immediately sprang up and ran over to them as Sonic put the pink hedgehog to the ground, slowly and carefully.

"What happened?" Rouge asked as she took a knee in front of Amy.

"Shadow." Was Sonic's only reply.

Rouge was in shock. How could he? How could he attack Amy? She was about to speak again when Sonic disappeared in a flash of light, obviously going back to fight Shadow.

Rogue looked back down upon the peacefully slumbering hedgehog. She decided right then and there; this had to stop! Getting up, the huntress took flight and headed towards the battle.

Battlefield

Sonic reappeared again in the exact same spot from whence he came and spotted Shadow standing there with his arms folded and eyes closed.

"Well," He said with his eyes still shut. "I was wondering when you would come back."

"You went too far Shadow!" Sonic yelled at his counterpart.

Shadow opened his eyes. "Ah yes, the pink one. It was really a feat transforming into your Mega form from that, even if it was only for a couple of seconds."

Sonic stepped forward a little as Shadow continued. "But even heart is not enough to reach that form. You have to have at least a certain energy level to maintain it and I'm afraid…You burned up most of your energy already."

"I don't need the Mega form to beat you!" Sonic retaliated.

Shadow smirked. "Hmph, look at you! One more energy attack and you're through. You'd fall all the way back to your Super form!"

Sonic smiled cockily. "Well then, let's find out!"

Shadow unfolded his arms. "As you wish."

Shadow charged forward in a black flash of light as Sonic also kicked off the ground, leaving a red trail of energy behind. Both hedgehogs clashed in a burst of black and red light, going into a lighting fast type of combat, delivering several punches and kicks to each other.

This continued as the light cleared and both warriors gradually began moving up into the sky, all the way still fighting each other at lighting fast speeds. Shadow managed to hammer Sonic right in the gut with one very precisely placed punched and floated back twenty yards.

A sinister smile edged its way onto Shadow's lips as he drew his hand back, a dark ball of energy forming in it. Sonic, who had recovered from the blow, did the same, charging up a red ball of energy in the same hand Shadow was charging his attack in.

"Dark Chaos Spear!" Shadow yelled as he fired the attack, creating a black beam of energy instead of an open handed single blast as usual.

"Hyper Blast!" Sonic shouted as he released his red beam of energy with it heading straight for Shadow's attack.

Both attacks impacted in the middle of the two warriors, creating a huge black and red sphere, with the two continuous beams feeding it and making it larger. Sonic tensed his arm up more as veins started appearing on them, with his arms growing larger with muscles.

Shadow's arms also did the same, with them growing larger and sprouting large veins on the outside. Both hedgehogs pushed themselves more and more as the huge sphere grew, along with the beams.

Gradually, the sphere started moving closer and closer to Sonic as Shadow's beam grew larger than his. Sonic grimaced slightly as Shadow added even more power to his beam, pushing the dome back towards him even more.

Shadow smiled evilly as he gave the beam another push of energy, making the sphere appear a few feet from the hero. The unnatural winds of the dome viciously blew Sonic's quills around as Shadow gave it another push.

The sphere was now mere inches away from Sonic as he closed his eyes slightly and turned his head away from the attack. Then, with a malicious smirk on his face, Shadow added more power to the beam, forcing it into Sonic.

It all happened in less than a second as the sphere collided with Sonic. Shadow's beam of energy ceased as Sonic's scream of pain echoed through the air. The sphere disappeared to show a badly burned and bloody Sonic.

The hero was back in his regular form as he plummeted to the ground, colliding with a loud crash. Shadow smirked again a she lowered his hands and floated down slightly so he was fifty feet above the fallen hero.

Blood slowly ran out of Sonic's mouth as he remained completely motionless with his eyes shut.

Author's Note- Is this the end of Sonic? The end of Earth? Find out tomorrow!


	20. The Dark Chaos Comet

Chapter 20

Shadow's eyes glistened with evil as his lips curled into an unnatural and rather sinister smile. Before him lay the greatest hero on Earth, beaten and bruised. Beaten by him, the ultimate life form, the conqueror of the planet

A small gust of wind graced the area as Shadow's black fur waved slowly in rhythm with it. He looked back down upon the fallen Sonic, laying there in a dirty crater, with blood seeping from his body.

His eyes were still closed and he was breathing very raggedly. Shadow had the opportunity to finish him off right here and now, the hero was helpless before him. Sonic had lost, and he had won. Victory was assured, for this was the mightiest warrior on the planet besides himself.

He had beaten them all, the world renowned hero Sonic the Hedgehog, the guardian of the legendary Master Emerald Knuckles the Echidna, and even his own sister, the second complete ultimate life form project, Amber the Hedgehog. They had all fallen at his feet here today.

He could easily conquer the rest of this feeble world and enslave humanity. But, for some reason…that idea did not satisfy him. No, he wanted ultimate destruction for this pathetic planet. He would create another empire, one on a world un-tainted by humans. He would start a whole new species there, and conquer the rest of the universe, just as he should have done when Black Doom visited the planet.

The Chaos hedgehog smirked slightly at the thought of his father, realizing how truly pathetic he was. His plan was to simply enslave humanity and slowly destroy them all by using their bodies as energy sources. Although he had to admit that as cruel, wiping them all out in one single blow seemed for fitting.

Not knowing what hit them, simply pondering in the after life for eternity trying to figure out why their entire race ceased to exist. It was perfect. So…that was what he would do, he would unleash his most powerful attack right into the heart of this planet and destroy it in less than a second. Of course, that would still be enough time to Chaos Control away to safety. Like he would go down with this planet, it didn't deserve his presence to grace them during their hour of doom.

He looked back down at Sonic. Really, he had to admit that this hedgehog was truly brave unlike any other. He would face unfathomable odds to fight for even the slightest chance of the safety of the ones he loved and cared for. And…that was his down fall.

The caring of others led to weakness, weakness led to enemies exploiting them, and that would lead to heart brake and despair. It was humorous really, how these humans treasured their loved ones above all the rest, yet were slowly destroying themselves through war and poverty. He would be doing them a favor really, by annihilating them all!

Shadow's train of thoughts ended as he heard the faint sound of falling rocks. Shadow's ebony eyes once gain fixed onto Sonic and they widened when they saw the hedgehog was actually moving!

'Impossible!' Shadow thought. He had delivered some of his most lethal attacks onto the hero, yet he was getting back up! How could a commoner such as him even match up with him, the ultimate life! The mere thought of this angered him as his fists unconsciously clenched.

But sure enough, Sonic's grassy green eyes slowly opened although you could tell he wasn't exactly…at home. They were glazed over completely, motioning that the hedgehog was barely becoming aware of his surroundings.

Shadow's wide ebony eyes narrowed as he raised one of his hands at the hedgehog, a black light of energy beginning to gather in it. He waited patiently as sonic wearily pushed himself onto his feet, with his arms dangling in front of him and his back hunched over.

"Dark Chaos Spear!" Shadow bellowed as he released a black bolt of energy, hitting Sonic directly in the chest and knocking him back down.

Shadow smirked as he lowered his hand. Sure, this hedgehog was exceptional, but everyone had their limits. He could sense his Chaos energy completely drained. He could barely manage to launch a simple blast attack at him anymore.

But, once again, Sonic stirred and got back to his feet.

'How is this possible?' Shadow thought. How could someone have so much will power? Shadow growled as he raised his hand at Sonic again.

"Dark Chaos Spear!" Shadow shouted as he launched the attack at Sonic. Surely, this had to be it!

But, right before impact, Sonic's head shot up as his fur burst to gold and his eyes turned to red. With the raise of his right hand, Sonic swatted the attack away with the back of his fist, sending it crashing into a nearby boulder and completely destroying it.

Shadow's mouth was gaped open as his usual intimidating eyes were wide with disbelief. There was no way. How could he have that much power left? Maybe he had underestimated this hedgehog. He was far more powerful than any regular hedgehog, but why?

Shadow didn't have time to ponder on that question as Sonic charged for him in a burst of golden light. Shadow smirked. Sure, he had entered the Super form, but it was a long while away from the Ultra form!

Sonic threw his right fist at the dark hedgehog as Shadow easily dodged out of the way. Then, with a simple raise of his hand, Shadow chopped Sonic right in the back of the neck.

The golden hedgehog's eyes widened as his mouth opened to scream, yet no sound came out, only spit. Sonic rocked a little before falling to the ground. The instant his fur hit the dirt, it returned to its usual sea blue.

"Hmph."

Shadow lifted off the ground, leaving Sonic lying on the ground, face first in the dirt. The hedgehog continued to almost casually fly up into the sky until he was at least a thousand feet above the ground.

Shadow tightened his fists into balls as he raised his arms to his sides. A black flame of energy surrounded him as dark energy sparks danced across his body. The energy flame around Shadow grew and grew until it was at least ten feet in diameter.

With a smirk, the hedgehog stretched both of his arms directly in front of him and curled his fingers, pointing the m to the inside as if to grab something. Then, with a burst of energy, a small ball of energy, no more than the size of a gold ball, formed within the curled hands of the Chaos hedgehog.

The flame of energy around Shadow grew and grew until it almost blocked out the sun. Dark clouds began to settle in the sky. Thunder roared and lighting struck, setting the background. Shadow smirked. What a fitting environment in which to destroy this planet in!

The small, almost tiny orb in his hand suddenly burst with energy and grew to the size of a semi-truck. Shadow laughed maniacally. "Yes, yes! Say goodbye to your planet humans!"

Thunder boomed in the back and a giant streak of lighting flashed just two feet behind Shadow, making him and his attack seem even more frightening and intimidating than they already were. Rain started falling, splattering to the ground and hitting the Chaos hedgehog. Wind roared, but did not affect Shadow as his attack continued to grow.

Another burst of energy turned the semi-truck sized attack into a mall-sized one. Shadow's ebony eyes gave off a strange glow as he let loose another horrific laugh, one which seemed to frighten the storm itself.

Ground

Sonic's eyes wearily opened, with only dark red in sight. Sonic painfully rolled his body over only to be hit in the eyes by multiple rain drops. The hedgehog's immediate reaction was to shut his eyes to protect them but he managed to keep them open.

But the sight he saw made him wish he never opened his eyes in the first place…

There, hovering above the earth was Chaos Shadow. Not only that, but he was carrying a large black orb of Chaos energy, one with so much power in it that it frightened the hero. With the push of his arms, Sonic stood to his full height only to collapse again.

Sonic huffed for air as he held his side in pain. Through the wind and rain, the hero managed to look up again to see the attack shadow was holding doubled in size! Sonic's weary eyes widened as he pushed himself back onto his feet.

He was completely drained. The fight had taken so much out of him that he could barely stand anymore. He was about to collapse again when he felt a pair of hands hold him up. Sonic managed to look to his side to see a familiar red echidna holding him up. Behind him were a golden hedgehog, a pink one, and a white bat.

Sonic smiled as Knuckles helped him stand totally vertically again. He smiled "Sonic, you can't give up yet! Maybe if you defeat Shadow, he'll come to his senses!"

Sonic shook his head. "No, I can't do it. I would have to acquire the Mega form for that and I've already wasted most of my energy."

Amy perked up and jumped next to Sonic. "Don't worry Sonic; we'll just do what we did before! We're completely recharged!"

Sonic smiled, as in disbelief of the statement he had just heard. "Are you sure?" He asked. He didn't want to endanger them.

Amy nodded eagerly. "Yeah, come on guys!" She motioned with her hand and Rouge and Amber came over, placing their hands onto the hedgehog's shoulder, along with Amy and Knuckles.

A faint blue glow began to be emitted from the group as Sonic's power began to recharge.

Sky

Shadow smirked out of amusement as he looked down upon the group, giving their energy to Sonic. 'How pathetic.' Shadow thought. 'Even if he were to ascend back to his Ultra form, the attack would be charged up by then.'

Shadow tensed his muscles up as the attack grew again. It was now the size of at least ten football stadiums. The dark light of the orb illuminated the already dark sky, making the scene currently unfolding more than qualified to be called the apocalypse.

With one final burst of energy, the dark flame around Shadow disappeared as the attack grew five times its previous size. It was now the same size as Mega Shadow's Chaos Comet attack.

Ground

Rouge, Knuckles, Amber, and Amy dropped to their knees in exhaustion as Sonic's blue fur burst to a fiery red and his eyes transformed to an ocean resembling blue. With one last look at his fallen friends, Sonic launched himself at the Shadow, without realizing what he was getting into.

Sky

Shadow laughed as he held the orb of energy in his hand. "Yes, this is it! The destruction of Earth!"

Then, in less than a thousandth's of a second, Shadow released the giant attack. "DAAAAAAAAAAAAAARK CHAAAAAAAAAAAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOS COOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEET!"

The giant black ball of energy shot forth from Shadow's outstretched hands and illuminated the ground with unnatural black light, all the while heading directly for the charging Ultra Sonic.

Author's Note- Will Sonic be able to stop the Dark Chaos Comet or will Shadow's sick wish for the destruction of Earth come true? Find out tomorrow in the final chapter of An Ultimate's Wrath!


	21. Love Conquers All

Chapter 21

The black light emitting from the giant Dark Chaos Comet almost totally enveloped Sonic as he continued to fearlessly charge against the oncoming attack. With the straining of his entire body, a large red flame of energy surrounded him as he continued to draw closer and closer to the attack.

Shadow, who was watching the whole event unfold, laughed. "He is more foolish than I though if he thinks he can stop that attack. The Dark Chaos Comet has the same amount of power as the Chaos Comet and not even Eclipse was able to stand up to that."

Maybe he was wrong after all; maybe this hedgehog was not brave, only foolish.

Meanwhile, Sonic continued his desperate charge towards the Comet. His body tensed up as the light of the attack almost completely enveloped him.

Then, with a loud crash and burst of light, Sonic and the attack impacted, fusing red and black together in a somewhat beautiful display of color, making the attack seem less harmless that it really was.

Sonic's arms were stretched in front of him, with his hands pressed against the side of the Comet, his red aura of flame red energy flaring. His arms grew in size, sheer muscles forming on them. Sonic shut his eyes as he pushed against the attack with all his might, making the energy around him flare even more.

Above, Shadow's eyes widened slightly as the Dark Chaos Comet actually stopped. Unbelievable, that was his strongest attack! Shadow growled as a dark flame of energy surrounded him as he disappeared in a flash of black light.

Meanwhile, Sonic continued to push against the Dark Comet with all his might. Sweat already matted all the red fur on his body to his skin, exposing the straining muscles of the hedgehog. His face contorted unnaturally from the force of the attack. He was beginning to weaken.

Suddenly, Shadow appeared before him in a flash of light, wearing a mask of rage. "Who do you think you are hedgehog?"

Sonic didn't respond as he tried to ignore the Chaos hedgehog and focus on the Comet. Shadow continued as he raised a finger and pointed it at Sonic. "You will not save this planet; it will be lost in the darkness of space for all time!"

Through grit teeth, Sonic managed to respond. "Not if I have anything to say about it!"

Shadow's face contorted in rage even more than it did before as he gathered a black ball of energy in his hand. With an angry growl, Shadow shot the attack straight at Sonic, who did not have the option to dodge or even block and was hit head on.

A large cloud of smoke rose from Sonic's body as Shadow gathered two more orbs in his hand. The smoke cleared to reveal Sonic, still very much alive and still holding back the Dark Chaos Comet.

With a maniacal laugh, Shadow began launching multiple black energy blasts from his hand and towards Sonic, who was hit by each one. Shadow smirked as he stopped the assault and examined the damaged hedgehog before him. Multiple burn and blood marks dotted across his body, yet he was still holding the attack at bay!

Shadow growled again and put his two arms behind him, gathering a large black orb of energy on his shoulders. He swiftly and gracefully removed that attack from his shoulders and held it and a throwing position, aiming it straight at Sonic.

The dark hedgehog was about to launch the attack when a pink and white figure rammed into him, causing him to fall back and the energy rob to disappear. Shadow growled out of aggravation and looked towards the attacker, who revealed himself to be Hyper Knuckles.

Shadow smiled darkly. "Are you looking for a death wish, echidna?"

Knuckles smiled cockily in return. "Not quite, but I am here to beat the evil right outta you!"

Shadow chuckled slightly. "Is that so, well then, we'll have to see about that!"

In a flash, Shadow was before Knuckles and launched his right fist at him. Knuckles was prepared however, and managed to block the attack. Throwing Shadow's fist off himself, Knuckles reeled back his own spiked fist and dug it deep into Shadow's stomach.

Shadow's eyes widened out of pain as Knuckles reeled back and shot a Thunder Arrow directly at Shadow's chest, hitting him dead on. A smoke cloud rose from the spot that the attack made impact with as Shadow flew back from the force of the attack.

'Damn,' the dark hedgehog thought as he recovered from the attack. 'The fight must have taken more out of me than I thought.'

"Chaos Control!" Shadow growled as he disappeared in a flash of black light.

Knuckles looked around; trying to see where the hedgehog would warp to but his search was cut short when an invisible force hit him directly in the stomach. Knuckles reeled over in pain as another blow was delivered to his head, sending him flying back.

"He must still be in Chaos Control." Knuckles muttered to himself as he recovered from the attack. His eyes once again searched the area as he covered his body with his arms, holding them in an "X" formation across his chest.

Suddenly, another vicious blow was delivered to the echidna's back, making him scream out of pain and drop his guard. Knuckles barely managed to look up when Shadow came out of Chaos Control, reeled back his right fist, and punched the warrior square in the chest.

Blood flew out of Knuckles' mouth as he was sent flying down towards the ground in a burst of air. His body collided with the wet and slippery boulders in aloud crash a he laid on the ground completely motionless, his fur back to its usual red.

"That takes care of him." Shadow muttered before turning back to Sonic, ho had actually managed to push the Dark Chaos Comet back at least twenty feet!

Shadow growled as he charged for the red Ultra hedgehog again. With a loud crash, Shadow rammed his elbow right into Sonic's face. Sonic's blue orbs of sight shrank until they were nearly microscopic. In a burst of air, the red hedgehog was sent spiraling downward, impacting with the cold and wet ground.

Shadow smirked as the Dark Chaos Comet started moving again. However, it was going way slower than it was before. Shadow growled as he dashed up until he was above the giant Comet attack.

Reeling back his right hand, the Chaos hedgehog gathered a large black orb of energy within his palm. "Dark Chaos Spear!" Shadow bellowed as he sent the attack into the Chaos Comet, casing it to accelerate greatly and once again be on its way on the collision course with the planet.

Lighting struck in the back as thunder boomed across the skies, illuminating the almost insane face of Shadow. "Yes, it's over!" He shouted.

Meanwhile, Sonic pushed himself back off the ground, his Ultra form blinking back to golden as he downgraded to his Super form. He looked at the approaching Dark Chaos Comet with wide fear-filled eyes.

"No…" He muttered quietly, making his voice barely audible. "I…can't….stop that." He finished dropping to his knees. "That's too much!"

Sonic's golden fur changed back to blue as his quills drooped down from the current onslaught of rain.

Suddenly, a winged figure sped through the horizon and past the Dark Chaos Comet, heading for where Shadow was located. Sonic's eyes widened even more.

"ROOOOOUUUUUUUGE!"

Sky

"I should get going." Shadow muttered to himself, watching the Dark Chaos Comet drew closer and closer to the crust of the Earth. The dark hedgehog smirked and raised his hand, a dark light emitting from it.

"CHAAAOOOOOOOOS CONTR"- "SHADOW!"

Shadow lowered his hand as a familiar female voice called out his name. The hedgehog spun around to see the white female bat flapping her wings furiously in the stormy sky before him.

"What do you want?" Shadow asked harshly.

"For all of this to come to an end." Rouge pleaded.

Shadow smiled darkly. "Why should it come to an end? It's unfolding so nicely."

"Please Shadow," She said desperately, moving her body closer to him. "Stop all of this!"

_Kill her…_

Shadow's ebony eyes widened slightly at that command from his conscience.

_Kill her now!_

Shadow shook his head. "No, I won't kill her."

_Fool…_

_She will only cause more heartache…_

_History will repeat itself…_

"I won't let that happen." Shadow muttered.

Rouge did not hear the hedgehog over the loud storm and continued to plead with him. "Shadow please, come back to your senses!"

Shadow grabbed his head, torn inside between the two opposing voices.

_Kill her…_

"Shadow please!"

_Destroy her…_

"Stop all of this!"

_She will cause you more pain…_

"We all care for you!"

_They mean nothing to you…_

"You mean everything to us!"

_You will kill them all…_

"Help us!"

_Kill them all!_

"I beg of you!"

Shadow's eyes widened.

_Flashback_

"_Shadow, I beg of you!"_

_The dark hedgehog's angry gaze switched from the soldiers and to Maria, where his face immediately became softer._

_Maria continued. "For all the people on that planet!"_

_Maria's arms tensed up as she pulled the lever and a large glass tube fell over Shadow. The dark hedgehog's eyes widened in shock as he pounded on them. "Maria!" He shouted._

"_That's it girl!" The same soldier from before shouted as he pulled out a small handgun._

_Time seemed to freeze for Shadow as a single bullet was fired from the gun. Maria didn't even have time to scream as the bullet pierced her fragile chest._

_Time sped up again as Maria fell to the ground with a heavy thud. Shadow's eyes widened in anger and frustration. _

"_MAAARIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"_

_End Flashback_

Shadow's eyes suddenly widened in pain as he threw his entire body back. "HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

A bright white light shot forth from his chest and totally enveloped the hedgehog, causing the on-looking Rouge to cover her face to protect it from the harshness of the light.

The storm above seemed to calm down as the rain suddenly stopped and the sky cleared, revealing the bright yellow sun. Rogue lowered her soaked glove and looked back towards the position of Shadow.

And what she saw there left her in awe…

There, floating not five feet from her was Shadow. But his fur was not black, it was now a shinny white and his eyes also lost the unnatural ebony color, being replaced by a sparkling gold.

Rouge's mouth gaped wide open in complete astonishment as Shadow looked at her, and smiled warmly.

'I knew he'd come back.' Rouge thought to herself.

Before she had a chance to speak though, the hedgehog in front of her disappeared in a flash of light.

With Sonic

The now azure hedgehog managed to stand back up and stare directly into the depth of the Dark Chaos Comet.

"I can't believe it's all going to end." He mumbled almost silently. "Now I'll never tell Amy about how I really feel."

His head hung low in shame at the thought of failing the entire world. Sonic's head shot back up when suddenly, a bright white light illuminated the area. There, standing in front of him with his back facing him, was a snowy white hedgehog.

"It can't be!" Sonic said, completely surprised.

The hedgehog turned his head slightly to look at Sonic as the hero immediately recognized him. "Shadow?"

The white hedgehog nodded slightly before turning back towards the oncoming attack. The contrast between the illuminating light of Shadow's fur and the black darkness of the Dark Chaos Comet seemed to resemble every battle ever taken place between darkness and light, between good and evil. And it looked like good would once again prevail.

Shadow tightened his fists up; causing energy sparks to dace around them. The attack drew nearer and nearer and Sonic started becoming worried slightly…but looking at Shadow's calm features made him change his mind about speaking up.

Shadow's golden eyes darted to the left slightly to see a white bat land beside him.

"Rouge?" Sonic exclaimed, also surprised by the presence of the huntress.

Rogue smiled back at the cobalt hedgehog and backed up from Shadow.

The dark hedgehog now knew the female was safe and out of harm's way, so he began charging up his attack. Putting both of his hands in front of him, Shadow strained his body.

The attack impacted with his arms, causing a massive cloud of brown smoke to rise from the ground. Shadow's hover shoes dug into the ground a she backed up slightly from the force of the Comet.

Rouge and Sonic both backed up slightly as Shadow grit his teeth. His feet dug further and further into the ground until he slid back a little, breaking and cracking the rock in his way.

Focusing all his powers, Shadow's hands, which were clasped onto the Dark Comet, began to glow a radiant white.

Through gritted teeth, Shadow managed to call forth is attack. "CHAAOOOS…CONTROL!"

The second those words passed from the hedgehog's lips, the giant Dark Chaos Comet, which was the size of over fifty football stadiums, vanished into thin air.

Rouge and Sonic's mouths were both wide open and their eyes were wide. "…" Was the only comment either could bring forth.

Shadow relaxed slightly, but he knew this wasn't over. "Chaos Control!" He shouted as he disappeared in a white flash of light.

-

In the vast darkness of space, the barely visible Dark Chaos Comet appeared just outside the outer atmosphere of the Earth. The attack had no where to go and since the laws of gravity still affected it, it once again engaged in a collision course with the planet.

That is, until a snowy white hedgehog appeared before it. The attack continued its inevitable charge as Shadow drew both his hands behind his back and put them together in a bowl type formation. (A/N Just think of Goku's Kamehameha.)

A bright white light began to be emitted from his closed hands as he began charging up power.

The attack drew nearer until it was mere inches away from Shadow's face.

And then, he released his attack.

"CHAAAOOOOOOOOS SPEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAR!"

The bright white beam of Chaos energy shot straight from Shadow's hands and hit the Dark Chaos comet, sending it flying back at incredible velocity.

Shadow continued his steady stream of Chaos energy as the dark orb he was pushing back headed directly for the center of the solar system, the sun.

With another desperate push, the Dark Chaos Comet impacted with the sun, creating a huge solar flare the size of the Earth. The dark orb of negative energy dwindled within the flames of the star and eventually disappeared.

Shadow lowered his hands as the beam of energy disappeared.

It was over. He had defeated yet another foe…himself..

Shadow smiled form the thought and looked back down upon the Earth.

How beautiful it was. If only Maria could be here with him now. What would he do without her? He had conquered his past entirely, so now…there was nothing left.

His mind suddenly brought forth the image of a beautiful white bat, smiling warmly at him.

Shadow smiled slightly. Maybe, it won't be that bad…

Earth

Meanwhile, Sonic and Rouge had regrouped with Amy, Knuckles, and Amber. All five of the heroes waited impatiently for the return of their dark ally.

"Are you sure he's fine now?" Knuckles asked, still a little unsure about Shadow.

"Yeah," Sonic assured. "After all, he's the one that stopped the Dark Chaos Comet."

"But isn't he also the one who launched it?" Knuckles asked, sounding rather stupid.

Amber smiled and pulled the damaged echidna into a hug. "Don't worry about it Knuckles. I'll protect you from my big bad brother."

Knuckles blushed furiously as his eyes widened. "WHAT?"

Sonic dropped to the floor and was rolling with laughter as Amy and Rouge were simply snickering to themselves.

All the festivities were interrupted however, when a bright white light illuminated the area. Everyone's attention was immediately caught as Sonic stood off the ground.

The light cleared as Shadow landed on the ground, looking at the rest of the group.

There was an uncomfortable silence in the air, one which Rouge decided to break. "Shadow?" She asked, stepping forward.

His golden eyes shifted to her momentarily before his whole body wavered, and he fell to the floor, his fur returning to its natural black and red. Everyone immediately sprang up and ran to the hedgehog's side.

Rogue turned him over so she could see his face and saw that…he was sleeping!

"Man." Sonic said in disbelief. "What a bum! First he tries to kill us, and then he takes a nap!"

Rouge smiled as she pulled the dark hedgehog onto her lap. The sun slowly began to set in the background as Shadow nuzzled himself against Rouge's stomach.

The bat smiled warmly. 'I wonder if he's dreaming.' She thought to herself.

And to answer Rouge's question, yes he was.

But this time, his dreams were peaceful.

Now, wake up (up, up, up, up...)

(Oh dark, the darkness...)

Now, wake up (up, up, up, up...)

(Oh dark, the darkness...)

Now, wake up (up, up, up, up...)

(Oh dark, the darkness...)

Now, wake up (up, up, up, up...)

(Oh dark, the darkness...)

Everybody tries to be straight,

But things are still unchanged.

It's useless to resist,

Their effort will be wasted.

Head straight for your goal by any means,

There is a door that you've never opened,

There is a window with the view you have never seen,

Get there, no matter how long it takes.

Oh dark, the darkness that dozes in the dusk,

Throw it all away.

No-one can break you, nobody can tear you,

You live an endless life forever.

Oh dark, the darkness that dozes in the dusk,

Throw it all away.

You see a light wherever you go,

You have to face it again and again.

And again and again and again!

Now, wake up (up, up, up, up...)

(Oh dark, the darkness...)

Now, wake up (up, up, up, up...)

(Oh dark, the darkness...)

Now, wake up (up, up, up, up...)

(Oh dark, the darkness...)

Oh dark, the darkness that dozes in the dusk,

Throw it all away.

No-one can break you, nobody can tear you,

You live an endless life forever.

Oh dark, the darkness that dozes in the dusk,

Throw it all away.

You see a light wherever you go,

You have to face it again and again.

(Oh dark, the darkness...)

You live an endless life forever,

(Oh dark, the darkness...)

Forever.

Now, wake up (up, up, up, up...)

(Oh dark, the darkness...)

Oh dark, the darkness that dozes in the dusk,

Throw it all away.

No-one can break you, nobody can tear you,

You live an endless life forever.

Oh dark, the darkness that dozes in the dusk,

Throw it all away.

You see a light wherever you go,

You have to face it again and again.

Oh dark, the darkness that dozes in the dusk,

Throw it all away.

No-one can break you, nobody can tear you,

You live an endless life forever.

Oh dark, the darkness that dozes in the dusk,

Throw it all away.

You see a light wherever you go,

You have to face it again and again

By: Julian-K

Author's Note- Well, there you have it, the finale to my fourth story, An Ultimate's Wrath. I would like to thank all of my reviewers, especially the ones that stuck with me since day one. And once again, thank you Sonic-Ruler for being one of my most loyal fans. Thank you to shadrougeforever and UltrraShaddow for writing such kick-ass stories and of course, to all the rest of you! Thank You!

_Special Sneak Peek:_

_Having conquered his greatest challenges, Shadow now confronts the one thing he has always desired, and feared: Love._

_An Ultimate's Legacy._

_Coming September 2nd _


End file.
